Indian Defence contractors may find a new lease of life now for Indian Army modernisation
Delhi: Though the Comptroller and Auditor General of India , in a recent report, was right in blaming defence PSUs for delays in fulfilling contracts and hampering the capability enhancement plans of the Indian Army, the government’s arbitrary regulations are also partly to blame for the stagnation of modernisation of armed forces. The blacklist policy—that saw many top suppliers and associated firms banned by successive governments, for a minimum of ten years, when they were found guilty of graft—shrunk the pool for the armed forces a…
Finmeccanica out, US’s Sikorsky joins Navy copter acquisition race
DELHI: The infamous VVIP helicopter scandal has claimed another victim. The defence ministry has ejected the European NH-90 chopper, linked to Italian conglomerate Finmeccanica, out of the race to supply 16 multirole helicopters to the Navy. The commercial bid of the other contender in fray, American Sikorsky-70B choppers, will now be opened this month after a long delay. "Both NH-90 and Sikorsky-70B choppers had cleared the technical trials held a couple of years ago," said a MoD source. "But their commercial bids…
Mistral row: France risks losing Rafale contract in India
France risks losing a contract to supply 126 fighter jets to India due to its refusal to deliver Mistral-class ships to Russia, a leading French analyst told the Delovoi Peterburg website. French officials said this week that they will not deliver the first Mistral-class amphibious warship that Russia had ordered as part of a $1.7 billion agreement for weapons sale. The biggest repercussion would be a loss of reputation for France as a reliable supplier, Arnaud Dubien, a Russia research associate at the Institut de relations Internatio…
Apache capability blitzkrieg for IAF as decks cleared for deal
As the IAF awaits contract signature on the keenly awaited Apache attack helicopter deal, it has been given a chance to savour the future of its attack copter capability through three recent events where the Apache was deployed. The material, made available through the Air Wing at the Indian Embassy in Washington D.C., depicts U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopters conducting operations this month (August 2014) off the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) deployed in the Persian Gulf, a capability the Indian Ai…
India to finalise Rafale deal this fiscal year: air force
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will finalise a $15 billion deal to buy 126 Rafale fighter jets from France's Dassault Aviation by March 2014, an Indian air force official said on Thursday, after the deal had been held up by differences over local manufacturing. New Delhi picked the Rafale for exclusive negotiations in January 2012 after a bidding contest against Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, made by a consortium involving EADS , Finmeccanica and BAE Systems . But there were differences over the role of India's state-run Hindus…
Chopper scam: CBI to register preliminary enquiry
The CBI is likely to register a preliminary enquiry (PE) to look if the UK-based helicopter supplier AgustaWestland had paid alleged kickbacks to a senior Army officer to swing the deal for supplying Light Utility Helicopters to the Army in its favour. The Army had plans to procure as many as 197 light utility helicopters but the deal was stalled after the allegations of corruption came to the fore. The CBI is now probing whether the senior Army officer had assured AgustaWestland to swing the contract for supplying 197 light utility h…
India launches second graft probe into AgustaWestland
Investigators have launched a second corruption probe into defence firm Agusta Westland in connection with a deal to sell 197 army helicopters, authorities said on Saturday, potentially dealing another blow to a company that India might blacklist. New Delhi is already investigating the firm, a division of Italian defence group Finmeccanica, for bribes allegedly paid to Indian officials in a separate 560 million euro helicopter deal. AgustaWestland has denied any wrongdoing and has tried to prod the Indian government to pay for thre…
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