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19 April 2010

Big BAE Getting Bigger

BAE - already the largest defense company on the planet - is in talks to supply (more) Hawk jets to India

BAE Systems is in talks with the Indian government to supply up to 60 more Hawk trainer jets to the country’s military in a deal that could be worth up to £500m ($768m).

A deal would probably see Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), the state-run defence company, place an order for the aircraft with the UK-based defence group. This could happen in the next few months, according to industry sources.

India ordered 66 Hawk jets from BAE in 2004 at a cost of about £1bn. Of these, 24 were built by BAE at its Brough plant in the UK’s north-east. The remaining 42 are being manufactured under licence by HAL in India with the first Hawks now in service.

All the aircraft in the follow-up deal would also probably be built by HAL.

BAE has made no secret of its expectations that there could be a follow-on deal. Alan Garwood, BAE group business development director, told the Financial Times: “India is a market in which we see several substantial future business opportunities spanning the air, land, naval and security sectors.

“This includes the potential sale of a further batch of up to 60 additional Hawk training aircraft.”

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In related news, India is phasing out the older MiG-21s

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is gradually phasing out its older MiG-21 combat jets, many of which have been lost in crashes, parliament was informed Monday.
"The MiG-21 is a very old aircraft. It is now in the process of being phased out," Defence Minister A K Antony said during question hour in the Lok Sabha.

"The normal life of an aircraft is 30-34 years," he added.

The IAF currently operates a little over 200 MiG-21s. Of these, 121 have been upgraded to the Bison version and are likely to fly till 2017, an IAF source said.

The remaining 80-90 aircraft will be phased out in the next two-three years, the source added, requesting anonymity.


By: Brant

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