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 Mark
Kronenberg, Vice President International Business
Development for Boeing Defense, Space & Security,
said that Boeing was looking forward to supplying
a larger number of C 17 strategic airlifters and
Apache Longbow helicopters to the Indian Air Force
(IAF) as well as the Boeing P8-I Long Range Maritime
Aircraft (LRMR) and its Medium Range Maritime
Aircraft (MRMR) to the Indian Navy.
The technology on board these aircraft, he told
India
Strategic, would be the best and unbeatable.
The Indian Navy has already decided to buy the
737-based P8-Is for its LRMR requirement while
for the MRMR requirement, a tender is due to be
floated in the second half of 2012.
Kronenberg said that while Boeing was disappointed
that its Super Hornet had missed the selection
in IAF’s Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft
trials, the company was hopeful of winning in
India’s several other programmes for military
and Homeland Security requirements. Boeing is
the biggest civil and military aerospace company
in the world with proven and safe technologies.
India has a big modernization programme to replace
its vintage systems and Boeing can fill in many
requirements, both in terms of technologies and
costs.
“India is a very promising market for us
and our relationship with India is not based on
one -MMRCA - transaction,” he observed.
In fact, Boeing has been upbeat ever since it
won major deals for F 15 Eagle, Apache helicopters
and other systems from Saudi Arabia recently.
In India also, its AH-64D Longbow Apache is the
sole contender remaining in the two-vendor competition.
IAF is yet to announce the winner but Russia,
which had fielded Mi 28, has already announced
that it has lost.
Kronenberg said that he was awaiting word from
the Indian Air Force, which had placed an RfP
(or tender) for 22 combat helicopters. All the
trials, including radar and weapon firing demonstrations,
had been conducted and “we expect to hear
some positive announcement in the first half of
2012.”
As per the RfP, deliveries are to start within
36 months from the signing of the contract. “We
have started our discussions on the 30 percent
offsets and have made a list of our potential
suppliers and collaborators,” he added.
“Boeing is also in the fray to supply 15
CH 47 Chinook helicopters. The Chinook contract
is at an industrial proposal discussion stage
which includes modification to the helicopters
to Indian specifications,” said Kronenberg.
As for other countries, Kronenberg said that
Boeing sees strong opportunities in the international
maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) market.
About the Indian Navy's MRMR requirement, be
said that capabilities on board the P8-I could
be scaled appropritely. But with a common platform,
data sharing and maintenance would be much easier
than with two different systems.
The Indian Navy has just been granted approval
for nine MRMR aircraft by the Ministry of Defence.
Top naval officials have told
India Strategic that it could take
upto the end of the year to float the tender.
In lighter vein, Boeing officials are describing
the 737 platform based MRMR as a "diet P8-I."
Boeing has been working to configurate it for
the past couple of years.
Notably, India’s defence market is worth
about US$ 235 billion over the next 10-15 years,
according to a paper submitted at a recent defence
acquisitions seminar at the New Delhi-based Institute
for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA)..
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