India's Defense Spending Binge

You have to wonder how this is going to sit with Pakistan, but India's defense ministry is issuing a new procurement strategy that aims to boost overall spending, especially at home.

India will issue a new defense procurement policy later this year aimed at reducing delays in purchasing weapons and increasing domestic production, defense minister A.K. Antony said Monday.

"This year when we come out with DPP 2010 (Defense Procurement Policy), one of the thrust areas will be reducing delays in procurement," Antony told a news conference at the ongoing DefExpo 2010.

"Instead of depending too much on foreign suppliers, we want to strengthen the defense industry in India. For this, we want public-private partnership," he added.

This comes as Boeing is likely to bid on an aerial tanker contract with India.

Boeing Co. (BA) may respond within two weeks to initial requests for information from India for six refueling tankers, a company executive said Monday.
"Our teams are studying the proposal for six refuelers," Vivek Lall, vice president and India country head for Boeing Defense Space & Security, told Dow Jones Newswires on the sidelines of Defense Expo.
Refueling tankers are used to refuel airplanes during flight.
Lall also said the company will begin field trials for the C-17 Globemaster III advanced airlifters in spring.

And BAE is selling a lot of high-tech jackets to them.

BAE Systems has joined forces with New Delhi-based Anjani Technoplast to bid for a $35 million contract for supply of 59,000 protective jackets to the Indian Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) using a material called Tensylon.

The BAE aims to deliver the latest, lightest and most cost-effective survivability products and personnel protection materials to India, said a company statement.

What domestic arms industry, eh?

By: Brant