US accepts India's request for supplying 6 more C-130J planes

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US accepts India's request for supplying 6 more C-130J planes - The Economic Times


NEW DELHI: The US has accepted India's request for supplying six more C-130J special operations transport aircraft to the IAF and a communication in this regard was given to the Defence Ministry recently.

India had sent a Letter of Request (LoR) to the US government in September last year for procuring six additional C-130J aircraft.

The US government submitted a Letter of Acceptance on April 10 to the Indian Defence Ministry for clearance. Like the first six aircraft, the additional six were also being acquired through foreign military sales (FMS) route, Lockheed Martin officials told PTI here.

India had signed a deal worth $ one billion with the US in 2007 for six aircraft which are deployed at the Hindon air base near here. The deal for the additional six aircraft is also expected to be around $ one billion.

Commenting on the development, Lockheed Martin's India head Roger Rose said, "The C-130Js, which were delivered ahead of schedule and within budget, have performed well for the Indian Air Force (IAF)."

"Lockheed Martin looks forward to continuing our disciplined programme performance by supporting the first six and any additional aircraft the Government of India may order," he added.

The IAF has decided to deploy the additional six aircraft at its base in Panagarh in West Bengal to take care of the requirements of formations deployed in the northeast and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The aircraft will also be used by the Special Forces to carry out operations or rapid deployment in case of incidents such as the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
 

mayfair

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Great more FMS purchases..oh I am sorry, should I say requests?

No offsets, No ToT, More expensive and without key equipment. Praise the lady and he poodle.
 

Kunal Biswas

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Though the good part is our capability is increasing, C-130J can carry more than double the payload of an AN-32..

Supplying ammo and other logistic to high altitude is now more, Good for troops up there..
 

arya

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good news

when they will come to iaf
 

ejazr

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We should at least start talks on having a maintenance centre for these in India and move to parts manufacturing. IT will be a big problem if regular maintenance becomes prohibitively expensive for these birds.
 

arya

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We should at least start talks on having a maintenance centre for these in India and move to parts manufacturing. IT will be a big problem if regular maintenance becomes prohibitively expensive for these birds.
yes you are right but think till now we are not making tatra truck do you think we can do this
 

ejazr

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^^^ Its a valid question, but its a question of not technical expertise, even the Saudis and UAE have a maintenance facility now where they can repair their US or UK brought fighter jets. So why can't we?

We already do maintenance on Mirage or build Russian fighter jets locally. If GoI can negotiate on this with the US seriously, we should be able to pull it off.
 

roma

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^^^ Its a valid question, but its a question of not technical expertise, even the Saudis and UAE have a maintenance facility now where they can repair their US or UK brought fighter jets. So why can't we?
We already do maintenance on Mirage or build Russian fighter jets locally. If GoI can negotiate on this with the US seriously, we should be able to pull it off.
you are so right !

it's good news that the usa is supplying - but the terms should include what you have stated above - and it is a most reasonable request , nothing unusual at all - and yet the goi has allowed the opportunity to slip through our hands ??

it seems they have their attention elsewhere

i sometimes wonder what is their FULL-TIME JOB ??
 

Kunal Biswas

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There is JV tank between TATA & Lockheed

July 14, 2012, by Sushil Sharma

The aircraft manufacturing American company Lockheed Martin is also hopeful of getting even more orders for this aircraft from India. In fact, Lockheed Martin is looking forward to manufacture India specific C-130J aircraft in India through a Hyderabad based joint venture called 'Tata-Lockheed Martin Aero Structures Limited' setup in 2009.



Roger Rose the Chief Executive, Lockheed Martin India, in an exclusive interview to Bharat Defence Kavach, told that there will be some minor changes between the last six and the next six. The US government has now submitted a Letter of Acceptance on April 10th 2012. The LoA is on the desk at the Ministry of Defence for signature- he said. The previous LoA "case" is still opened for the first six. The contract runs through 2014." The green signal to acquire the additional six aircraft could be given by the ministry once the discussion is over on offsets and some other issues.


Indian Defence News - JV with Tata may produce C-130J at Hyderabad : Roger Rose
Rest of the article in the link..
 

Ray

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It was essential for Indian strategy and the US complied since India falls within its strategic pursuits.
 

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