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India and U.S. ready to seal deal for 197 Helicopters

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US firms set to bag deal for sale of 197 helicopters

:idiot: :disappointed:

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New Delhi, Sept. 17 (PTI): Six years after American defence firms forayed into the Indian arms market after the lifting of US embargoes, a company is set to bag the first commercial deal for selling 197 light helicopters to the Army.

After almost two years of evaluation, including trials at the world's highest battlefield on the Siachen glacier, the army has, according to highly placed sources, opted for Bell Helicopter's 407 Shen model in preference to EADS' Eurocopter.

Though the army has given its technical evaluation to the defence ministry, the deal is yet to be cleared by the Defence Acquisition Council headed by Defence Minister Pranab Mukherhee as well as the Cabinet Committee on Security.

Though the price negotiations are yet to be finalised, the deal, which includes the training of Indian pilots, is estimated to be worth over 400 million dollars.

The deal envisages the initial delivery of 60 helicopters in a fly-away condition and co-production of 137 helicopters after 100 per cent technology transfer by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

And for the first time, the deal will include a 30 per cent offset to be negotiated according to the defence ministry's requirements.

Under the new arms procurement policy, the government has enforced 30 per cent offsets in all contracts worth over Rs 300 crores and made it mandatory for firms selling arms to India to sign an integrity pact.

After the lifting of sanctions, the US made military sales of the ANTPQ fire-finding radars and reached an agreement to sell the retired warship USS TRENTON. All these were government-to-government deals done through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme of the US.

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200609171550.htm
 
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No idea which Helicopter they'll be getting exactly but if it's for the Army then it should be a military role Helicopter. Some kinda hybrid Eurocopter of some sort, eh.
 
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The deal is estimated to worth up to 400 million dollars which will include transfer of technology and training of Indian pilots.

The army is favoring Bell Helicopter's 407 Shen model.
 
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It was Good Thing that the Army is Going to have some Wings and also Bell is the best suitable for Indian Conditions i think.]


Bell 407, A Famous and Proven helicopter in civilian world, bagged a deal of 400 Helis for US Army to replace OH-58. Bell ARH for US Army is many times reliable than OH-58.

The Bell 407 Shen being evaluated by the Indian Army for acquisition has already proven its capabilities in the hot and humid environment of Bhatinda in Punjab and by making repeated landings on the austere Siachen glacier. The 407 crew also demonstrated a complete engine change in a record time of less than two hours.
 
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Which Eurocopter model where they looking at?

It can't be the Tiger as that looks like a totally different platform..
 
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