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BY OUR AVIATION CORRESPONDENT
23 July, 2005: Boeing Co has begun preliminary talks with the Indian government for selling and co-producing F-18 Super Hornet fighter planes to the country’s air force. The talks follow a recently signed defense pact between New Delhi and US.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) intends to buy as many as 126 multi-role fighters for an estimated $9 billion, as the Air Force replacing its existing of Russian-built MiG 21s. The MiGs are being replaced due as the fleet has begun to age.
The dual-engine F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet is flown only by US forces while the Hornet version is in the service of seven other air forces.
The price would depend on the configuration sought in the Request For Proposal (RFP) by IAF. The cost would also be determined by the kind of technology and weapons platform the US government would allow Boeing to export to India.
Boeing is also planning to set up a co-production facility for these aircraft in India.
Earlier in June, Indian Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee and US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld signed the `New Framework for US-India Defense Relations’. The framework envisages a greater cooperation in defense production and research, exchange of military technologies and for military exercises.
The US was also planning to sell F-16s to India's rival Pakistan after a nearly 16-year break. This is in reward of Pakistan's support in US-led global war on terrorism.
BY OUR AVIATION CORRESPONDENT
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