New Delhi: US aerospace major Boeing and the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) on Thursday expanded their two-year relationship with the American company, placing a follow-on order with its Indian partner for building sub-assemblies for its F/A-18 combat plane.
Boeing had tied up with the BEL in 2011 and placed orders with it for both the combat jet and its P-8I maritime reconnaissance plane.
This fresh order from Boeing comes despite it losing out in the Rs1 lakh crore-worth “mother-of-all deals” for 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft.
Boeing was eliminated during the shortlist stage in the August 2007 tender in which French firm Dassault Aviation’s Rafale has been chosen as the lowest bidder.
The BEL delivers components for the Super Hornet and P-8I maritime reconnaissance aircraft, and is a partner with Boeing at the Analysis and Experimentation Centre in Bangalore that opened in 2009.
29/03/13 New Indian Express
