IAF clears proposal to buy three C-17; Boeing says only one plane left to sell

[[Bregs]]

in short laut ke bhuddu ghar ko aye

but why not ruslan

A400M Atlas is good too provided we are ready for another new platform

 

[GURU DUTT]

A400M Atlas is good too provided we are ready for another new platform

why not order more c-17s

 

[[Bregs]]

why not order more c-17s

yes that will be more prudent move, now they have stopped production of this aircraft and are ready to deliver one, in govt o govt deal US can spare from its reserve

 

[PARIKRAMA]

The root of our problem is We are SLOW... Even if we have money, we lack will power.. We lack the initiative.. We lack the risk taking stance.. We lack future planning..
C17s, Hercules 130s, Chinooks, MTA/C295/Anything else, A330 MTT etc.. The whole transport, logistic and supply chain fleet needs a rejig of highest order...
But then again its not limited to just what i mentioned above.. The DAC orders and reality of almost negligible movement and only file going from one committee to another is the stark reality..
The result is every service IAF/IA/IN or their arms are somehow suffering and its increasing day by day... i am not even mentioning depleting squadrons or the word rafale !!!

Cut the red tape and close the end loop circle.... The time lost wont come back ever for anyone..

 

[Oldman1]

A400M is a good alternative after the C-17 assembly plant shutdown.

 

[Ankit Kumar 001]

A400 M is good but its hauling ca0acity is not too good.
A C17 can lift our Arjuns, I wonder the A400M would be able to lift the T72s.
A400M will be needed but at a later date.

If we give an order of 10-12 aircrafts, the production line can surely be resumed, of course given we are quick.

We need Chinooks, Apaches, Globemasters and M777 quickly for our mountain strike corps.

 

[Indian Patriot]

Cut the red tape

If only it was so easy.

 

[Abingdonboy]

I have heard the plan was to have around 26 C-17s total...let's make 20 a more realistic interim figure.
Surely I'd think the price of ~10-16 more planes should be enough to make Boeing reopen the line on a limited scale? We might have to pay extra though...but with C-17, I'd guess it would be worth it given our increasing international role and need to have forces transported over long distances.

Indeed, the IAF has projected a need for 26 or so C-17s which now looks unlikely to be fulfilled by C-17s. Sadly the timing worked against the IAF, had the production line remained open for another 5 years the IAF would certainly have had its wish fulfilled.

I'm not sure that Boeing will open the the production line for such a small order especially as the line has been shut for a long time now and much of the tooling and resources will have been shifted and lost for good.

Do you think it could be feasible to have Boeing shift the production line to India altogether? Ofcourse catering to just IAF's requirement of maximum 10-16 more aircraft won't be enough to justify a production line...the plant will need to be bigger, able to handle MRO and other maintenance activities for all C-17s on the East side of the world to promise a revenue stream enough to justify such a plant.

Outside of the USAF the number of C-17s in service is pretty small really so I'm unsure if there is a market for this for India.


I think the IAF may well look at the A400 to fulfil the strategic airlift gap that will now exist:

IAF impressed with Airbus A400M
- SP’s Exculsive

 

[Gessler]

Indeed, the IAF has projected a need for 26 or so C-17s which now looks unlikely to be fulfilled by C-17s. Sadly the timing worked against the IAF, had the production line remained open for another 5 years the IAF would certainly have had its wish fulfilled.

I'm not sure that Boeing will open the the production line for such a small order especially as the line has been shut for a long time now and much of the tooling and resources will have been shifted and lost for good.



Outside of the USAF the number of C-17s in service is pretty small really so I'm unsure if there is a market for this for India.


I think the IAF may well look at the A400 to fulfil the strategic airlift gap that will now exist:

IAF impressed with Airbus A400M
- SP’s Exculsive

That would be so sad. We'll be adding another entirely different aircraft type with all it's different operating procedures, infrastructure and training facilities, so much more time & money would be lost to achieve the same level of airlift capability as before.

And all because the governing bodies sat on the approval papers for so long. They should have went ahead with the whole order of 26 C-17s when they had the chance (the knowledge of the fact that C17 production would be closed soon has been around for almost half a decade now), even if it means opening a credit line...because these aircraft are indispensable.

--

About the alternatives, yes, the A400M looks like the only option now (I had been vocally against acquiring the A400M because we already had C17, IL76 and the MRTA projects underway, but now the situation is different). The other option would be IL-476, which may actually help cut down on the new infrastructure and training costs as we already operate IL-76, but it remains to be seen if IAF wants it or not.

 

[Oldman1]

A400 M is good but its hauling ca0acity is not too good.
A C17 can lift our Arjuns, I wonder the A400M would be able to lift the T72s.
A400M will be needed but at a later date.

If we give an order of 10-12 aircrafts, the production line can surely be resumed, of course given we are quick.

We need Chinooks, Apaches, Globemasters and M777 quickly for our mountain strike corps.

True, but its uncommon for tanks to be loaded on board even on C-17. Its pretty rare. Don't expect India to put tanks on the mountains.

 

[Ankit Kumar 001]

@Oldman1

Sir the Army plans to have around 300 T90 deployed on mountain areas along India Tibet border. So its wrong to say we won't see Indian Army tanks in action the mountains.

My comparison that C17 can lift Arjun was just to compare its huge hauling capacity which is presently unparalleled, except for An124 .

 

[Oldman1]

@Oldman1

Sir the Army plans to have around 300 T90 deployed on mountain areas along India Tibet border. So its wrong to say we won't see Indian Army tanks in action the mountains.

My comparison that C17 can lift Arjun was just to compare its huge hauling capacity which is presently unparalleled, except for An124 .

They really planned to do that?

 

[Echo_419]

Will more than likely go this way:


As noted in the article, this being a FMS deal means there is a lot of scope for out of the box thinking and the USAF has plenty of near new C-17s laying around in storage.

I think this option should be explored

 

[Ankit Kumar 001]

@Oldman1
Yes sir
Wiki says
"A ₹10000 crore (US$1.5 billion) purchase of 354 new T-90MS tanks for six tank regiments for the China border has been approved[25] which would take the total number of T-90 tanks in the Indian Army's inventory to 2011 ."

 

[ravindra1455]

when all american c17 become old after 2 decades, will they start production line again?