India will move forward with its $2.5 billion purchase of 26 Boeing-built (NYSE: BA) Chinook and Apache helicopters, Reuters reported Tuesday.
Advertisement
The contract negotiations were finalised two years ago between the Defence Ministry and Boeing, manufacturer of Apache and Chinook helicopters, but the deal was stuck in red tapism.
The new Apache and Chinook helicopters are meant to replace the military’s ageing Soviet-origin choppers.
The Apache attack choppers, armed with fire-and-forget Hellfire missiles, can track up to 128 targets in a minute and prioritize threats.
The deal is the first big military contract for the USA since PM Modi’s government took office.
The deal includes an option for 11 more Apaches and seven more Chinooks, an industry source with knowledge of the matter said.
Both platforms, which have been in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, had beaten off competition from Russian Federation , which had offered its Mi-28N Night Hunter and Mi-26 heavy-lift copters. This state-of-the-art attack helicopter will be acquired with Hell Fire missiles and around 8,000 rockets.
The deal for Apache is “a hybrid one”, with one contract to be signed with Boeing for the helicopter and the other with the U.S. government for its weapons, radars and electronic warfare suites. A senior government official confirmed the decision.
The CCS met after a Cabinet meeting, they said. The Chinooks are to be part of a new mountain corps the army is putting together with the intent of deploying it on the border with China. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) in May previous year had approved three squadrons of attack helicopters for the Army and they will be flown by Army pilots.
Advertisement
USA companies have secured defence contracts from India worth around $10 billion, including for P-8I maritime surveillance planes, C-130J “Super Hercules” and C-17 Globemaster-III transport aircraft.
