Govt clears biggest-ever defence deal with US

New Delhi: Sulking ever since its jets got ejected from the race to supply 126 fighters to IAF, the US now has reason to cheer. India has formally cleared the biggest-ever Indo-US defence deal, the $4.1 billion contract for 10 C-17 Globemaster-III giant strategic airlift aircraft.
All decks for the almost Rs 19,000-crore deal, which will support over 22,000 jobs in the US as Barack Obama himself put it, were cleared last month, as was first reported by TOI. On Monday, the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by PM Manmohan Singh gave the final go-ahead for the contract, under which the 10 Globemasters are to be delivered to IAF between 2013 and 2015.
The $4.1 billion deal, in fact, could well become even bigger at a later stage. "They are fantastic aircraft, which we chose after a deep study of what all was available in the world market...After the first 10 Globemasters, we will examine the option to go in for another six,'' IAF chief Air Chief Marshal P V Naik told TOI on Monday.
Capable of carrying a maximum payload of 77.5 tonnes, which can include combat vehicles, artillery guns and battle-ready troops, the Boeing-manufactured Globemasters will seriously boost India's swift power projection capabilities in its "primary area of geo-strategic interest'' stretching from Persian Gulf to Malacca Strait.
07/06/11 Rajat Pandit/Times of India

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Categories: Foreign Jun 2011