India Signs Deal With Boeing To Purchase Apache, Chinook Helicopters

[JANASENA]

A few hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for the United States, the Union government approved two major defence deals with the US.

India has signed a contract with Boeing to purchase 15 Chinook heavylift helicopters and 22 Apache attack helicopters, Defence spokesman said in New Delhi on Monday.

A few hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for the United States on Tuesday, the Union government approved two major defence deals between the two countries.

The deals will ensure that the U.S. remains among the top military suppliers for the Indian armed forces for some years to come.

It will also help in further advancing the nascent efforts by the Indian private sector to create an aerospace industrial base in India.

An official in the know said the purchase of Apache multi-role combat helicopters had two components — a foreign military sales (FMS) agreement between the two governments and a direct commercial sale deal with Boeing.

In the case of Chinook — heavy-lift helicopter with tandem rotor — the deal is a direct commercial deal that would be signed between Boeing and Indian side.

The contract would include a clause for follow-on orders for four more Chinooks and 11 more Apaches, officials said.

The U.S. side has been aggressively pushing for concluding the two deals at the earliest because New Delhi had been holding back for the past five years. This meant that the U.S. side had to keep extending commercial bids all these while.

The big ticket deals would boost the U.S.’ rapid climb in the Indian market as a major defence supplier. Once dominated by the Soviet Union, and later by Russia, the market is today open to various countries. And the U.S. and Israel have been making the most of the opportunity.