Friday, November 11, 2011
U.S. interested in Indian helicopter tender
From The Hindu
The United States has expressed strong interest in participating in India's tender for attack helicopter and heavy-lift helicopters despite the snub it received earlier this year in the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition, according to a top official.
In remarks to the Defense Trade Advisory Group, Assistant Secretary for Bureau of Political-Military Affairs Andrew Shapiro said, “I have also advocated for our tenders in the Attack Helicopter and Heavy Lift Helicopter competitions. We are hopeful that both will be selected.”
Earlier, the Indian Air Force was reported to have floated tenders for 22 combat and 15 heavy lift helicopters.
Among the U.S. contenders in the race would be Boeing's Apache, for combat, and the Chinook, for heavy-lift.
The reportedly $550 million-tender aims to replace India's ageing helicopter fleet and trials were said to be on in the hot, humid deserts of Rajasthan and the icy Himalayan heights of Ladakh and Leh.
Mr. Shapiro reflected upon his attendance on February last at the Aero India show, an event at which he said he advocated for U.S. defence sales.
“While India unfortunately did not down-select a U.S. aircraft for its MMRCA competition, I believe our relationship with India is much more than one sale,” he said.
Suggesting that Indian acquisition of the U.S. defence equipment was woven into the fabric of a stronger U.S.-India strategic partnership, Mr. Shaprio said that recent evidence of the U.S. efforts in this regard was India's acquisition of 10 C-17 aircraft and a request for six more C-130J aircraft.
Labels: combact helicopters, defence deal, MMRCA, U.S. India relations
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Top India analyst criticises MMRCA decision
From The Hindu
Following the ejection of the United States from the race to secure a Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft order from the Indian Air Force, a top India analyst here said that there were many in the United States who would describe the Indian government’s decision as having “settled for a plane, not a relationship.”
Commenting on the shortlist announced by the Government of India on Thursday, which included the European Eurofighter and French Rafale aircraft but not the U.S.-built F/A-18 Super Hornet by Boeing and the F16IN Super Viper by Lockheed Martin, Ashley Tellis of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said, “The downselect decision clearly represents the IAF’s choice, which the MOD [Ministry of Defence] ] has obviously gone along with as expected.”
Mr. Tellis added that while both the fighters down-selected were “extremely agile platforms”, and excelled in “maneuverability, acceleration, and flight envelopes”, their “big weakness” was their primary sensor.
Arguing that neither the Eurofighter nor the Rafale had an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar – handy for stealth operations across a wider range of signal frequencies – yet, the bigger questions were “not technical, but strategic”.
Questioning whether these aircraft represented the best value for the IAF and the best investments for India overall, Mr. Tellis said to The Hindu that those in the U.S. who felt that India had settled for an aircraft over a strategic relationship would also conclude that “there is no reason why the administration should bend backwards to accommodate India.”
Mr. Tellis, formerly a senior advisor to the Ambassador at the U.S. embassy in New Delhi, a staff member of the National Security Council and Special Assistant to the President, also had critical words for the manner in which the decision was made and announced.
He said that it only made things worse given that “the GOI knew full well the importance the administration attached to this sale... [and] a quiet intimation of the coming decision would have helped.”
Following the ejection of the United States from the race to secure a Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft order from the Indian Air Force, a top India analyst here said that there were many in the United States who would describe the Indian government’s decision as having “settled for a plane, not a relationship.”
Commenting on the shortlist announced by the Government of India on Thursday, which included the European Eurofighter and French Rafale aircraft but not the U.S.-built F/A-18 Super Hornet by Boeing and the F16IN Super Viper by Lockheed Martin, Ashley Tellis of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said, “The downselect decision clearly represents the IAF’s choice, which the MOD [Ministry of Defence] ] has obviously gone along with as expected.”
Mr. Tellis added that while both the fighters down-selected were “extremely agile platforms”, and excelled in “maneuverability, acceleration, and flight envelopes”, their “big weakness” was their primary sensor.
Arguing that neither the Eurofighter nor the Rafale had an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar – handy for stealth operations across a wider range of signal frequencies – yet, the bigger questions were “not technical, but strategic”.
Questioning whether these aircraft represented the best value for the IAF and the best investments for India overall, Mr. Tellis said to The Hindu that those in the U.S. who felt that India had settled for an aircraft over a strategic relationship would also conclude that “there is no reason why the administration should bend backwards to accommodate India.”
Mr. Tellis, formerly a senior advisor to the Ambassador at the U.S. embassy in New Delhi, a staff member of the National Security Council and Special Assistant to the President, also had critical words for the manner in which the decision was made and announced.
He said that it only made things worse given that “the GOI knew full well the importance the administration attached to this sale... [and] a quiet intimation of the coming decision would have helped.”
Labels: defence deal, India-U.S. ties, military equipment
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