The acquisition, which has been under consideration since 2010, is expected to be worth an estimated USD 3 billion and will involve the discharge of offset obligations in India. It was approved by the ministry’s Defence Acquisitions Council (DAC) in 2015.
BAE Systems and the U.S. government will deliver 25 M777 Ultra Light Howitzers off the shelf, while a further 120 will be assembled in India with Indian partner Mahindra.
The delayed approval for the acquisition of the M-777 ULH means that India will have to bear a much higher price because of the weaker rupee.
The tender to manufacture the C-295 was the first aircraft procurement plan especially intended by the IAF and the defense ministry to be solely partnered in India by private industry.
Dassault can wait to have their way in the MMRCA negotiations knowing the aversion of the IAF and defense ministry to a re-tender, unless the defense ministry walks away from the table itself, first.
The 37 percent escalation by a margin of roughly INR 1,200 crore for the US government offer to India for 145 M-777 light weight howitzers comes into effect on Tuesday, along with the imminent closure of the assembly line for the artillery.
In purely dollar terms, the new price represents a 37 percent hike in the cost of the offer to India, but would effectively be even higher given the fall in the value of the rupee against the dollar since 2010.
Reactions from industry pointed out that the general rule remained the same, with investment restricted to 26 percent, subject to approval by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.
Shruti Pushkarna puts together a graphic representation of the process of selection of the AgustaWestland AW101 helicopter by the Indian Air Force (IAF), on the basis of the White Paper issued by the defense ministry on Thursday.
“The government has granted in principle approval for the MHA’s (Ministry of Home Affairs) proposal to set up (the National Counter-Terrorism Center),” Chidambaram told reporters in New Delhi.
French firm MBDA will supply 450 MICA interception and aerial combat missiles as part of the second phase of plans for upgrading the Mirage fleet of the Indian Air Force (IAF). India had last July signed a $2.4 billion deal with French defense firms Thales and Dassault for upgrading the Mirages.
India is all set to develop the Kargil airfield as a full-fledged transport base by 2016, by when the Indian Air Force (IAF) aims to operate heavy-lift as well combat aircraft planes from there.
In the committee’s report on budgetary demands for grants for 2011-12 submitted to Lok Sabha(Indian Lower House of Parliament) Wednesday, the defense ministry has told the committee that differences with the finance ministry on its plan size had led to it not being finalized yet.
With the USD 2.4 billion Mirage-2000 upgrade deal with France in its final stages, India’s defense ministry and air force top brass seem to be split over the high costs and likely benefits to the country’s future air power needs.
India is all set to open a swanky new military training academy at Gaya in Bihar in a month to augment the number of troop commanders.
