Saab ties up with Tata to develop fighter jet
(AFP) Feb 9, 2009
BANGALORE, India (AFP) Swedish aeronautics maker Saab said Monday it had tied up with India's Tata group to develop a new variant of its Gripen fighter jet as it pitches for a 12-billion-dollar deal from New Delhi.
Saab executive Kjell Moller said the tie-up with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was not only aimed at jointly developing the Gripen but also at getting a chance at the biggest fighter jet deal in the world in years.
The Swedish company is competing with firms from Russia, Europe and the United States to sell 126 warplanes to the Indian air force.
India, which will begin trials in April of the shortlisted jets including the Gripen, has said it will buy about two dozen units in flyaway condition and manufacture the remaining 100 or so planes at a local state-run facility here.
"We will transfer technology and competencies to TCS, which will play a key role in the development of the next-generation Gripen and other products," Moller said ahead of the air show this week in Bangalore.
"The contract will continue irrespective of us getting the Indian order," the Saab vice president said.
US-based Lockheed Martin's F-16 and Boeing's F-18 Superhornet have emerged as the front-runners for the Indian contract, industry sources said.
The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) has offered its Typhoon Eurofighter and France's Dassault, which makes the Mirage, has put forward its Rafale.
Russian manufacturers of the MiG-35 and MiG-29 are also in the race along with Saab.
The Indian air force -- the fourth largest in the world -- has 51 Mirage-2000 war planes made by Dassault with electronics from Thales that need a major upgrade
Saab and Tata form joint venture to build... a fighter jet?! — Autoblog
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So my question is when is TATA going to buy the swedish firm which sold awacs to Pakistan???
already its car manufacturing company is in trouble
Saab has filed for bankruptcy protection today after losses threatened its survival.
The carmaker, owned by America's General Motors and famous for comparing its saloons to fighter jets, said that it would file for a reorganisation plan, a Swedish legal procedure which safeguards its assets from creditors.
Yesterday it was reported that General Motors was prepared to pump in $400 million to help Saab to become profitable if the Swedish Government guaranteed to match its stake.
Unnamed sources told Dagens Industri, a Swedish daily newspaper, that the American company had made an offer to put 3.5 billion Swedish kronor (£280 million) into the firm if the Swedish Government guaranteed a 5.2 billion kronor loan to Saab.
Part of the money would be used to launch new models and part to cover the loss made by Saab last year. The goal is to help it to reach annual sales of between 120,000 and 130,000 vehicles, which would make the carmaker profitable by 2011 or 2012, the paper reported.
GM said this week that as part of a sweeping restructuring of its global operations, it aimed to sell Saab along with other underperfoming businesses including its Hummer brand.