Thursday, February 19, 2015

ShinMaywa confident of progress on US-2 sale to India

Bangalore: ShinMaywa officials at Aero India 2015 believe that Japanese and Indian government support for the sale of 12 US-2 amphibian aircraft to the Indian Navy (IN) means it should overcome delays that could threaten the deal.

The IN requirement for a long-range search-and-rescue platform, first mooted in 2012, is awaiting approval by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), which has to approve all programmes before contract negotiations can begin.

Senior IN officers told IHS Jane's in January that the USD1.65 billion US-2i procurement featured "prominently" in the Services Capital Acquisition Categorisation Committee (SCAPCC) meeting at the Integrated Services Headquarters in New Delhi on 31 December 2014.

All major Indian materiel acquisition proposals are mandatorily routed through the SCAPCC by the respective service headquarters.

Partha Dutta Roy, ShinMaywa's senior manager in charge of sales and business development in India, told IHS Jane's on 18 February that "a fair amount of work has been done" on outlining the various elements of the proposed deal so that work can move ahead quickly once DAC approval is given.

A joint working group set up in 2014 to expedite the acquisition has held a number of meetings that have prepared the groundwork for transfer of technology, offsets and contract negotiations, Roy said at the biennial defence show in Bangalore.
17/02/15 James Hardy/IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
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