US set to be India’s biggest arms supplier

[Bang Galore]

US set to be India’s biggest arms supplier
Rajat Pandit,TNN | Jul 13, 2015

The defence ministry is likely to clear the decks for acquisition of another four P-8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft for almost $1 billion. (Photo credit: Boeing)

NEW DELHI: The US is fast consolidating its position as India's largest arms supplier with a flurry of new defence deals and joint projects, after having inked the expansive new 10-year defence framework in June and bagging contracts worth $10 billion over the last eight years.

Sources said the Manohar Parrikar-led defence acquisitions council (DAC), in its meeting slated for Tuesday, is likely to clear the decks for acquisition of another four P-8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft for almost $1 billion.

"The contract negotiation committee (CNC) has completed its work. Now, the DAC approval is needed for the offsets deviation. The proposed contract will then go to the finance ministry for vetting before the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) for the final nod," said a source.



This "follow-on contract" comes even as the Navy has now inducted seven of the eight P-8Is ordered from Boeing in the $2.1 billion deal inked in January 2009. Based at the Arakkonam naval air station in Tamil Nadu, these radar-packed aircraft serve as "intelligent hawk-eyes" over the Indian Ocean. They are also armed with deadly Harpoon Block-II missiles, MK-54 lightweight torpedoes, rockets and depth charges to take on enemy warships and submarines.

Simultaneously, Pentagon and South Block are also set to begin fresh negotiations next week for the proposed $770 million contract for M-777 ultra-light howitzers, under which the bulk of the 145 artillery guns to be acquired in the government-to-government deal will be made in India.

The 155mm/39-calibre lightweight howitzers, with a strike range over 25km range, can be swiftly airlifted to "threatened high-altitude areas" facing China, which outguns and outnumbers Indian troops all along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control.



Artillery-manufacturer BAE Systems, in turn, will tie up with an Indian partner to set up a production base here on the lines of its facility at Hattiesburg (Mississippi) in the US. The Ordnance Factory Board and PSU BHEL as well as private players like L&T, Mahindra, Tata, VEM Technologies and Reliance Defence Systems are in the fray for the project.

Moreover, the deals for 22 Apache attack and 15 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters from Boeing, together worth $2.5 billion, are now being vetted by the finance ministry before they go to the CCS for final approval, as earlier reported by TOI.

Amid all this, India and the US have also pressed the throttle on their "transformative" Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI), which envisages co-development and co-production in tune with PM Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' policy.


While project agreements for military mobile generators and chemical-biological warfare protection gear have already been finalized, similar pacts for Raven mini spy drones and "roll-on, roll-off" mission modules for C-130J Super Hercules aircraft are on the cards.

But it will be the proposed joint development of jet engines and aircraft carrier design and construction technologies, which includes EMALS (electromagnetic aircraft launch systems) developed by General Atomics, that will be the big-ticket items under the DTTI.

US set to be India’s biggest arms supplier - The Times of India

 

[C130]

yeah a few big deals. mostly expensive because it's mostly aviation stuff.

P-8,Apache,Chinook.......


Russia still dominates though.

with Russia you get a lot of bang for the buck.

 

[acid rain]

yeah a few big deals. mostly expensive because it's mostly aviation stuff.

P-8,Apache,Chinook.......


Russia still dominates though.

with Russia you get a lot of bang for the buck.

It's like tilting towards soviet or nato style machinery, that's the only 2 divisions available and shift cannot be done overnite...what Indian planners are trying to do is strike a balance between the two.

 

[Guynextdoor2]

I think air-lift planes have done a BRILLIANT job till now. A very very good decision by the IAF on that. Of course, after the MTA gets ready we won't need to buy them from abroad

 

[Echo_419]

yeah a few big deals. mostly expensive because it's mostly aviation stuff.

P-8,Apache,Chinook.......


Russia still dominates though.

with Russia you get a lot of bang for the buck.

We are trying to diversify our defense suppliers

 

[anant_s]

The graphic says 6 more C17 are being proposed for sale taking total fleet size to an impressive 16.
I'm not sure though if that many pieces are up for sale from White Tail program.
@Abingdonboy @Gessler @MilSpec @sancho

 

[[Bregs]]

Its welcome news to get all high tech purchases from US but a delicate balance needs to be kept with Russian sensitivities as peeved Russia can split the party in future for us. In past Russia kept quiet but now with post sanctions era Russia will view all this very closely

 

[Abingdonboy]

The graphic says 6 more C17 are being proposed for sale taking total fleet size to an impressive 16.
I'm not sure though if that many pieces are up for sale from White Tail program.
@Abingdonboy @Gessler @MilSpec @sancho

This is what the IAF has requested but who knows if this is even an option now......

 

[anant_s]

This is what the IAF has requested but who knows if this is even an option now......

Qatar has recently ordered 4 C17s and with that i suppose not many are left for Boeing to sell.
Boeing has only one C-17 Globemaster II left to sell

In this context if India is negotiating for 6 more, its a bit confusing where these planes are going to come from (if i'm not wrong Boeing's Longbeach facility is the only location where these planes are assembled). & if the news is true (implying Boeing can still supply these planes to India), maybe the order size can still grow.

 

[Abingdonboy]

Qatar has recently ordered 4 C17s and with that i suppose not many are left for Boeing to sell.
Boeing has only one C-17 Globemaster II left to sell

In this context if India is negotiating for 6 more, its a bit confusing where these planes are going to come from (if i'm not wrong Boeing's Longbeach facility is the only location where these planes are assembled). & if the news is true (implying Boeing can still supply these planes to India), maybe the order size can still grow.

If the IAF is willing to sign on the line soon (IF) then Boeing/USG will arrange something (most likely brand new C-17s the USAF was forced to induct but didn't want and are basically mothballed).

 

[anant_s]

If the IAF is willing to sign on the line soon (IF) then Boeing/USG will arrange something (most likely brand new C-17s the USAF was forced to induct but didn't want and are basically mothballed).

Not a bad idea if the machines are brand new.
Would that be a G2G sale or facilitated through Boeing?

 

[Abingdonboy]

Not a bad idea if the machines are brand new.
Would that be a G2G sale or facilitated through Boeing?

Yes, this is the ONLY time I would advocate getting "second hand" military equipment for the Indian Mil- many of the newest C-17s the USAF "inducted" went straight into storage as the USAF did not actually want/need them but was forced to accept them for political reasons. As such there are effectively brand new C-17s awaiting an owner and the IAF DESPERETLY needs them as 10 C-17s are nowhere near enough. The GoI/MoD/IAF need to take the bull by the horns and get as many C-17s as they can lay there hands on NOW as if they wait 5+ years the air force is going to be crippled as the IAF's 17-odd IL-76s retire.

In that case it would be a G2G deal (but then all FMS deals are G2G anyway) and Boeing would play a more minor role focused more on the support side than the actual sale as the a/c are/would come out of the USAF's inventory.

 

[anant_s]

Yes, this is the ONLY time I would advocate getting "second hand" military equipment for the Indian Mil- many of the newest C-17s the USAF "inducted" went straight into storage as the USAF did not actually want/need them but was forced to accept them for political reasons. As such there are effectively brand new C-17s awaiting an owner and the IAF DESPERETLY needs them as 10 C-17s are nowhere near enough. The GoI/MoD/IAF need to take the bull by the horns and get as many C-17s as they can lay there hands on NOW as if they wait 5+ years the air force is going to be crippled as the IAF's 17-odd IL-76s retire.

In that case it would be a G2G deal (but then all FMS deals are G2G anyway) and Boeing would play a more minor role focused more on the support side than the actual sale as the a/c are/would come out of the USAF's inventory.

Searched a few documents and found that USAF had an initial requirement of about 222 C-17 but voices in US congress were raised after a fleet of 187 was acquired.
Later RAND corporation commissioned a study that looked into re-location of C17 facility elsewhere if production orders were firm.
http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/technical_reports/2012/RAND_TR1143.pdf
It found that unless there are significant orders and the Longbeach facility is re-located to a lower cost location, further production of C17 is unviable given current requirements.
i assume Boeing did supply full 222 no.s and a sizable number of these may have been mothballed (as you mentioned).
Australia too is interested in these machines and it therefore makes perfect sense to get them while they are still available.