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| India-Pakistan |
| Boeing gives Indian Navy classified briefing on the P-8A. |
| 2006-04-13 |
| Turban Tightening Time! A high-level team from Boeing will give the Navy a classified briefing this week on the P-8A Maritime Multimission Aircraft (MMA), a futuristic reconnaisance and oceanic warfare jet to be rolled out by 2013 for the US Navy. This afternoon, Boeing president & CEO James McNerney paid a 10-minute courtesy call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his office. Both Boeing and the Pentagon are keen to engage the Indian Navy as a technical partner in the $3.89 billion P-8A programme — an unprecedented proposal that would have remained a pipedream if it wasn’t for the new strategic relationship between the two countries. Talks are still at a preliminary stage and the financial implications of joining the P-8A programme are very high, though the Navy feels that getting on board the programme early on would ensure that it receives what it perceives to be the best next generation Naval aviation technology. The visit of the Boeing team coincides with that of US Speaker of the House of Representative Dennis Hastert, the third highest ranking official in the US administration. Big business opportunities for firms like Boeing underscore the new Indo-US diplomatic complexion. Last year, the firm landed a $6 billion deal with Air India for civil jets and is in the country for more business opportunities, which include a full-fledged maintenance and overhaul facility in Nagpur and a training school. The Boeing president was hosted for lunch by Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel today. President George W Bush himself, in his initial meetings with the Prime Minister, had pushed for more business with Boeing. With civil business going strong, Boeing is firing all cylinders for military business with India now, including its F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter for the IAF and, at a necessarily more complex level, the P-8A. Based on the familiar Boeing-737-800 platform, the P-8A is being built for long-range anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions, all capabilities the Navy desperately needs to augment if it wants to meaningfully mount its new role as a strategic regional power. Partnering with Washington on the programme would also imply potentially large technological spin-offs for the Navy’s own design bureau. The Navy’s interest in the P-8A programme, first reported by The Indian Express in May last year, is also reflective of its new long-term vision for airborne weapons systems, since the P-8A will roll off production lines only in the next decade. The US Navy will buy 108 of the aircraft to replace its current fleet of P-3 Orions, built by Boeing rival Lockheed-Martin. |
| Posted by:john |
| #3 It would be great if the emerging Indian technology sector contributed to their defense as our allies. I'd be happy just to know they were our allies. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-04-13 08:59 |
| #2 Europe has ceased to contribute to its own defense -- and as a result is ceasing to defend itself. It would be great if the emerging Indian technology sector contributed to their defense as our allies. |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-04-13 08:43 |
| #1 a futuristic reconnaisance and oceanic warfare jet Is this the one that turns into a flying submarine? |
| Posted by: SteveS 2006-04-13 01:07 |