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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