India-US begin price negotiations on Boeing C-17 airlifter

NEW DELHI: India and the United States have begun talks here on the price and onboard equipment for the 10 Boeing C- 17 military transport aircraft that the Indian Air Force (IAF) wants.

According to reliable sources quoted by India Strategic defence magazine, the validation trials of the aircraft were complete and that one United States Air Force (USAF) C-17 which had come to India in this regard last month had met the IAF specifications. The aircraft was tested in short and high altitude runways.

As India is buying the aircraft from the US government under its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme, the US Department of Defense (DOD) and USAF are leading the discussions from the supplier side and the Indian Ministry of Defence and the IAF are negotiating from the buyer side.

DOD has set the maximum price at $5.8 billion for the aircraft and various systems but the actual price would depend upon what equipment and onboard options the IAF finally selects.

The US government will issue a Letter of Acceptance (LOA) after these discussions are finalized, indicating the equipment, services, and lifecycle support and their costs. There would be a 3.8 per cent administrative fee that the US government now charges on all FMS deals. (This fee varies periodically between 2.5 to 5 per cent).

India Strategic quoted Boeing's Vice President for Global Mobility Systems Tommy Dunehew, who was here recently, as saying that Boeing has offered assured maintenance and supply of spares for the lifetime of the aircraft - say 40 years - and serviceability.

The aircraft is manufactured by Boeing at its Los Angeles facility.

According to an official Boeing statement, the latest large T-tailed C-17 Globemaster-III, which India is seeking, can carry a maximum payload of 74,797 kilograms for 2,400 nautical miles without refueling and 45,495 kilograms for 4,000 nautical miles without refueling.

The aircraft can also be refueled midair to extend its range to carry equipment and humanitarian aid across international distances.

The statement said that the C-17 can operate from "a small, austere airfield in 3,000 feet or less" with full payload. "The C-17 is equipped with an externally blown flap system that allows a steep, low-speed final approach and low-landing speeds for routine short-field landings."

Boeing has delivered 199 C-17s to the USAF. There are 19 C-17 aircraft with other international customers.

India-US begin price negotiations on Boeing C-17 airlifter-Airlines / Aviation-Transportation-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

Comments

Pakistani JF-17 A Thunder OR A Blunder

Pakistan has witnessed new defense acquisitions in this decade than any other, and in the center of it all is the new fighter which was designed by China with partial funding from Pakistan. It is formally known as JF-17 Thunder. When the fighter was in development, Pakistani online communities were jumping with excitement comparing it with its arch rival India’s modern combatants Su-30MKI, Mig-29S & Mirage-2000H. There were claims of it featuring western Radars and long range missiles, & Chinese ordering some due to its superior capabilities. But the reality is far from it. China having spent significant amount of money into a fighter which it is never going to use, most probably forced Pakistan to accept its avionics to offset some its development costs. Chinese who are known for their self reliance first and quality next, are further downgrading JF-17s capabilities with their poorly copy-pirated avionics. Along with their dubious weapons, any chance of JF

Mossad & CIA Committed 9-11: Italian President Francesco Cossiga

Source: http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/archive.cgi?read=114778 Former Italian President Francesco Cossiga, who revealed the existence of Operation Gladio, has told Italy’s oldest and most widely read newspaper that the 9-11 terrorist attacks were run by the CIA and Mossad, and that this was common knowledge among global intelligence agencies. The evidence that Mossad planned 911 using Arab patsies is overwhelming; Mossad were caught filming the attack from Liberty Park and then later said on Israeli TV that they were sent there to document (they along with nearly 200 Mossad were rounded up and sent back to Israeli in the weeks following the attack, preventing the FBI from questioning them). Only 5 Israeli's died in the WTC attack; 3 on the airplanes and 2 in the buildings. It is a fact unexplainable by Zionists apologists that Idigo, and Israeli messaging service sent a warning in Hebrew worldwide that a terror attack would happen in a few hours on the da

India Planned Attack On Pak Navy Mehran Base To Kill Chinese Engineers

The terrorist attack on Karachi's Mehran Naval Station on May 22 was conceived and launched by India with the primary objective of killing the Chinese engineers present there, a Pakistani newspaper has claimed, citing 'informed sources'. Four to six Taliban terrorists had entered PNS Mehran on May 22, destroying two maritime surveillance aircraft and killing ten military personnel during their 17-hour siege of the naval air base. "India is the only country in the region that feels troubled by the Pakistan Navy, which had awfully beaten the Indian Navy in Operation Dwarka of 1965. Since then, it has been an earnest desire of India to harm the Pakistan Navy but it was perhaps not possible on the battle front, hence it struck the PNS Mehran," The News quoted sources as saying.

ASIAN DEFENCE

Search This Blog