Posted on 02/04/2006 3:12:17 PM PST by Arjun
India says no to US P-3C Orion aircraft
Rahul Bedi (IANS)
New Delhi, February 4, 2006
In a rare 'no' to Washington, the Indian Navy has called off the leasing of two US Navy P-3C Orion maritime reconnaissance aircraft (MRA) on grounds they are too expensive.
The 18-24 months it would take the US Navy to retrofit the two aircraft to the Indian Navy specifications once the lease had been finalised also contributed to New Delhi opting out of the deal.
"The lease (of two P-3C Orions) is timed out. It was expensive and time-consuming," a senior Indian official associated with the lease negotiations said.
The US Navy is believed to have demanded Rs8 billion for the lease via the foreign military sales programme.
Fear of US sanctions, like the ones imposed following India's 1998 nuclear tests that led to the Indian Navy's entire Sea King MK42 fleet being grounded due to a shortage of spares, also influenced the navy's decision, officials indicated.
Sanctions on India -- and Pakistan for its nuclear tests -- were lifted in late 2001.
India's P-3C Orion lease was to be a precursor to purchasing eight others to augment its reconnaissance requirements which the navy presently considers "highly inadequate" for anti-piracy operations, narcotics control and to counter natural and ecological disasters like tsunami's or oil and chemical spills.
In anticipation, P-3C Orion manufacturers Lockheed Martin had signed a non-disclosure technical assistance agreement with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd in Bangalore last year to share export controlled data related to technical and commercial proposals to retrofit the MRAs to the Indian Navy's requirements.
The Indian Navy has now sent out to MRA manufacturers in the US, France, Britain and Russia a request for proposals for the outright purchase of eight MRAs.
These will replace a similar number of Tupolev Tu 142 'Bear Foxtrot' MRAs that are being retired after negotiations with Russia and Israel to retrofit them were called off three years ago.
The Indian Navy confirmed that it was also involved in exploratory talks with Boeing Corp for possible involvement in the P-8A MMA it is developing based on the Boeing 737NG platform.
The Indian Navy believes that the P-8A would match the combined operational profile presently being executed by its existing fleet of Ilyushin Il-38 and Tu 142 MRAs.
It also considers its involvement in the Boeing MMA programme an 'evaluation' and 'test' of Washington's long-term military and strategic commitment to India and a possible counter to possible future sanctions.
Washington considers the Indian Navy a stabilising force in the Indian Ocean region and wants a closer working relationship with it as it straddles the strongest area of strategic convergence: sea-lane protection.
The US is also keen that the Indian Navy, which has a formidable presence in the Indian Ocean region, to officially join the Washington-led proliferation security initiative (PSI) which seeks to interdict vessels suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction and associated equipment.
Meanwhile, the Indian Navy last month received the first of its five Il-38 MRAs upgraded to the Il-38 SD standard and equipped with the Morskoi Amei (Sea Dragon) radar system compatible with the navy's proposed strategic deterrence.
The remaining four similarly upgraded MRAs will be delivered to the Indian Navy by early next year. Two of these aircraft are replacements being provided by Rosonboronexport for the ones that crashed in October 2002.
Currently, the Indian Navy is dependent on its fleet of around 20 Dornier 228 aircraft and Israeli Searcher Mark II and Heron unmanned aerial vehicles to monitor India's 7,516-km long coastline, 1,197 islands and a two-million sq km exclusive economic zone.
ping
The Indians apparently went with Russian technology. 10% less capable, 20% more robust, and 50% cheaper.
So long as we can afford it, I'll take that 10% technological edge, thankyouverymuch.
Maybe India went with the Chinese copy cat version....
I did use it but it throws up a lot of results..
sometimes its possible to overlook..
No need to sound demeaning.
Try searching by "post time" instead of "relevance." It helps.
"I'll take that 10% technological edge..."
That 10% is worth the price when someone you love is depending on it, and their life is on the line.
The Indians musta taken an Orion out for a test drive LOL!
The REAL Reason: Putin's going to give them a better (read cheaper) deal.
Saddam made that mistake when he bought the Chinese knock-off ammo for his Russian tanks. Didn't perform quite as well as the OEM version, as the few surviving Iraqi tank crews can attest.
Saddam also never figured out that Russian military planning counted on having huge numerical superiority over the West. No way could Russian armor stand up 1:1 against the Abrams, LeClerc or Challenger. They weren't designed to.
The problem here is also that there is lack of trust. Given American propensity to refer to Pakistan as "ally", Indians are skeptical about whether American products would be supported in military situations against Pak.
Our general rule of thumb is about 4 hours or so to remove a duplicate article. This was posted yesterday, so, we'll leave it. It's obvious, some folks aren't here all the time. This gives them a chance to see articles that they normally may have missed. Thanks for your ping.
Give me a break the only good russian tech thats robust is the AK. Western military products on average outclass and are much more durable than the russian counter parts.Look at the russian navy and their airforce.
We could probably use the ones we leased to india around Guam and Japan anyhow. No big deal.
In 1990 we weren't was sure about just how good we were/are ... anyways the Chinese got to really reversal engineer a P-3 .... one piece at a time ....
Actually, the problem with the Iraqi tank ammunition for their T-72's was not because they were using Chinese ammunition, which they weren't, but because they were using Soviet target rounds instead of regular rounds.
The atrophy of the Russian Navy and Air Force is primarily due to lack of funds after the collapse of the Soviet Union. They don't even have the money to properly SCRAP their nuclear submarine fleet. Let alone pay for regular maintenance.
Having flown those for 20+ years I say that India made a wise choice. LOL
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