Indian fighter purchase - RFPs to Dassault, SAAB, MiG, F-16, page 4

Boeing in talks with Indian Air Force to supply F-18s

Boeing Co. said on Friday it had begun preliminary talks with India on selling and co-producing F-18 Super Hornet fighter planes, a month after New Delhi and Washington signed a far-reaching defence pact.

"We have begun initial discussions with the IAF in terms of exploratory relationship building and to provide them with some initial information on the capabilities of the Super Hornet," Chris Chadwick, Boeing vice president for the F/A-18 programs, told Reuters. "Their response has been very positive."

He added the price per aircraft would depend on the configuration sought in the planned request for proposal by the IAF. The cost would also be determined by the kind of technology and weapons platform the U.S. government would allow Boeing to export to India, Chadwick said.

"We would be working at setting up a co-production facility for this aircraft in India," he added.

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Boeing will not offer the F-15 Eagle for India's forthcoming fighter needs but would like to offer the latest Block 2 version of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, the company said.

The Block 2 includes advanced systems such as the APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array, Advanced Targeting FLIR and Multi-Functional Information Distribution System.

Co-production with India is likely.

full article at : www.flightinternational.com...

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WASHINGTON - The prospect of selling fighter jets to the world's largest democracy is generating mounting interest at Boeing's military headquarters in St. Louis.

Executives are just back from a trip to India late last week, during which they spoke to political and military leaders about the possible sale of the St. Louis-built F/A-18 Super Hornet. In India, Chris Chadwick, Boeing's vice president for Hornet programs, told Indian reporters, "As the world watches closely while the story of India unfolds, we at Boeing see the next 60 years of aerospace in India as dynamic, entrepreneurial and globally dynamic."

India is in the market for 126 aircraft, said Boeing spokeswoman Pat Frost, who accompanied Chadwick and others on the trip. Advertisement "That's a lot of airplanes. It's a great opportunity," Frost said Tuesday. The Boeing group spoke to Air Force and government officials who're trying to put together a formal request for proposals. That request is expected to be ready between mid-fall and December, Frost said.

"We know they're interested in co-production and technology transfer," Frost said. "We're willing to entertain all these different options."

A sale to India would be Boeing's first international deal for the Super Hornet, though the F/A-18 Super Hornet has been sold overseas. Right now, the U.S. Navy is the Super Hornet's sole customer.

The Boeing talks took place just a few days after India and the United States agreed to strengthen cooperation on nuclear, defense and security issues. "With all the agreements going on between the U.S. government and India, India's obviously becoming a very important economic player," Frost said.

"They've got a reasonable chance in India," said Richard Aboulafia, aerospace analyst at the Teal Group Corp. in Fairfax, Va. "The big advantage they have is the U.S. Navy's stamp of approval, and this is going to be a consistently upgraded aircraft."

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quote]While the IAF has no qualms in admitting that the Super Hornet is possibly the most advanced fighter currently in full-rate production, most officials in the force insist that the Hornet has always been a platform designed for carrier-borne maritime missions. Almost all Hornets in possession of the US forces at present are with the aircraft carrier groups.

The Boeing team will try its best to dispel this popular opinion that the Horent is a Naval platform. Friday’s presentation will most likely have Boeing informing the IAF — as Lt Gen Jeffrey Kohler of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency had done earlier this year — that the Super Hornet can be upgraded and tweaked for conventional multi-role operations.

Interestingly, it’s the Indian Navy which will first get a taste of the Hornet this September during a joint exercises with the US at the Arabian Sea.

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New exercises are something to look forward to as well

And here's a carrot for India to go in for the Super Hornet :

Since US media reports indicate Bush administration’s clearance for possible transfer of sensitive radar technology like Raytheon AN/APG-79 AESA radar of the Super Hornet to India, diplomatic bargaining to secure the AN/APG-81 AESA radar may well bear fruit.