Flight path: an Indian Air Force pilot flies a Hawk trainer jet. New Delhi ordered 66 of the aircraft from BAE in 2004 and may place a follow-up order
Posted on 04/19/2010 5:55:17 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
BAE in talks to supply Hawk jets to India
By Sylvia Pfeifer in London
Published: April 19 2010 01:41 |
BAE Systems is in talks with the Indian government to supply up to 60 more Hawk trainer jets to the country’s military in a deal that could be worth up to £500m ($768m).
A deal would probably see Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), the state-run defence company, place an order for the aircraft with the UK-based defence group. This could happen in the next few months, according to industry sources.
India ordered 66 Hawk jets from BAE in 2004 at a cost of about £1bn. Of these, 24 were built by BAE at its Brough plant in the UK’s north-east. The remaining 42 are being manufactured under licence by HAL in India with the first Hawks now in service.
All the aircraft in the follow-up deal would also probably be built by HAL.
BAE has made no secret of its expectations that there could be a follow-on deal. Alan Garwood, BAE group business development director, told the Financial Times: “India is a market in which we see several substantial future business opportunities spanning the air, land, naval and security sectors.
“This includes the potential sale of a further batch of up to 60 additional Hawk training aircraft.”
India became BAE’s seventh core “home” market in 2009, alongside established markets such as the UK, the US and Saudi Arabia.
The Indian government has a strong commitment to national defence with a defence budget of about $24bn in 2008, according to BAE’s latest annual report.
While the government is increasingly committed to developing its own defence industry, it continues to source about 70 per cent of its equipment from foreign suppliers.
BAE is also about to seal a long-awaited armoured vehicle and artillery joint venture with Mahindra & Mahindra, the Indian truck maker.
The venture will tap expertise from BAE’s South African Land Systems OMC to produce landmine-resistant armoured patrol vehicles that it considers well-suited to the Indian army’s needs.
The technology – which is based on a V-shaped underbody – was developed in the 1980s during South Africa’s border war with Angola.
The European defence contractor is also seeking shipbuilding opportunities as India’s navy seeks to expand its fleet from its own dockyards rather than buy warships from other navies.
It is in talks with the Indian navy over the introduction of modular shipbuilding techniques, which allow ships to be built quickly and more safely than traditional methods within the confines of a shipyard’s dry dock.
But the biggest prize of all would be a successful bid to supply 126 fighter jets in a $10bn deal to update India’s ageing strike force. BAE is part of a European defence consortium offering the Eurofighter Typhoon.
Flight path: an Indian Air Force pilot flies a Hawk trainer jet. New Delhi ordered 66 of the aircraft from BAE in 2004 and may place a follow-up order
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