Airbus Wins India’s Tanker Rebid
Airbus Wins India’s Tanker Rebid
NEW DELHI — Airbus has been selected as the preferred vendor over Russia’s Ilyushin to supply six aerial tankers for the Indian Air Force in a $1 billion tender, according to Indian Defence Ministry officials. After the commercial bids were opened earlier this month, the base price of the Russian Il-78 tanker was quoted as lower than that of the A330, but when factoring in maintenance and fuel costs, the Airbus was the better value, said a Defence Ministry official. The official refused to provide the exact quotes of the bids, and said the Russian government-owned company had not yet been officially informed about the decision. Russian diplomats confirmed they had not been informed of the Airbus selection. Boeing withdrew from the competition in 2010, leaving only the A330 and Il-78 in competition. The tender in 2010 also was sent to EADS, Lockheed Martin and Antonov of Ukraine. Antonov did not qualify, and Lockheed and Boeing did not participate. The Indian Air Force is using six Il-78 midair refuelers bought from Uzbekistan and plans to buy 12 additional tankers, which includes the six from Airbus. Defence Ministry sources said it is not yet decided if a fresh tender will be opened to buy the remaining six or if a repeat order will be given to the winner to the current competition. The current tender is itself a rebid of a 2006 tender in which the A330 finished behind the Il-78 tanker, but the Indian Air Force preferred the European tanker. When the matter was sent to India’s Finance Ministry, it said the lowest bidder should be the winner. The controversy led to the cancellation of the tender. Defence Minister A.K. Antony wrote the Indian Parliament on Dec. 14, 2009, that the Finance Ministry had expressed reservations about the competition. “The procurement proposal had been progressed in accordance with the Defence Procurement Procedure — 2006 and thereafter referred to the Ministry of Finance who has expressed certain reservations relating to the competitiveness of the bids and the reasonableness of the price,” Antony wrote. The Indian Air Force plans to deploy the tankers at Panagarh Air Base in the eastern state of West Bengal to help increase the range of its Su-30MKI fighter jets, which would enable the Indian aircraft to penetrate deeply into China, an Air Force official said. In addition to lower fuel costs, the Airbus tanker is optimized for high-altitude cruise and fitted with advance avionics, the IAF official said. |
given the time it takes India to finally decide on anything this thread will run until 2020
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By the way, India selected the CH-47 Chinook over the Mil-26 as well. So a win for Boeing on that one..
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The Indian Air Force plans to deploy the tankers at Panagarh Air Base in the eastern state of West Bengal to help increase the range of its Su-30MKI fighter jets, which would enable the Indian aircraft to penetrate deeply into China, an Air Force official said |
no - a lot of people in the Indian Army & Air Force still want to refight the 1962 Border War
God knows why |
Or they want to be able to pose a credible threat to important places in China in order to prevent a repeat of 1962*... not an unreasonable concern, with the Chinese' current policy of pushing its neighbors over any territory which had ever been under Chinese control, and China's close ties with Pakistan.
If the 3rd (or is it the 4th... I've lost count) Indo-Pak war breaks out, India wants to be able to ensure that China stays out of the fighting. * Remember, although India had built outposts in the disputed regions, and had been "pushing" the Chinese to "test their resolve", China initiated the major action in 1962. Also, there were incidents as recent as 1987, and there are still territories where agreement has NOT been reached on just who owns the land. |
TBF the Chinese have quite a long record of coming to a negotiated settlement on their boundaries without fighting - but it takes two to tango and the Indian position is that if it was on THEIR maps as Indian in 1948 then it is part of India and cannot legally be negotiated away
Those "boundaries" along the Himalayas are a nightmare - most of them were never surveyed properly at all |
Heathrow Harry,
most of them were never surveyed properly at all |
the problem is that there were NEVER any surveyors in a lot of the areas in dispute
the locals weren't into making maps and hold local allegiances - to monasteries, tribes etc The maps used for many of the lines were put together from tales from a mixture of big-game hunters, traders and pilgrims traveling through some bloody dreadful country. First thing to do is to send surveyors ( mix from both sides and some neutrals) to make a map that everyone can agree on THEN the politicians sit down and agree where the boundary is THEN you send the surveyors out again to demarcate it on the ground something for that lot in Hermitage to get on with |
First thing to do is to send surveyors ( mix from both sides and some neutrals) to make a map that everyone can agree on THEN the politicians sit down and agree where the boundary is THEN you send the surveyors out again to demarcate it on the ground something for that lot in Hermitage to get on with A big subsidence crack was just some loose plaster, tree beside the house was unlikely to cause problem even though roots were already coming through garage floor etc etc. As he was contracted by the bank I sent them a copy of one a a surveyor mate had done for a beer and a curry. I was going to demolish property anyway and sell site but had never disclosed this to anyone. Borders are always imprecise. |
Won't last, they're already looking at breaking one of BMI's 330's, it was only built in 2001
G-WWBD I believe |
racedo,
If its anything like the surveyor who once did a house survey on a property |
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