Skip to main content

Boeing gets United States government approval to offer F-15EX to India

Boeing has received a licence from the U.S. government to offer its F-15EX fighter jet to the Indian air force


Boeing will compete with Sweden's Gripen and France's Rafale among others for the Indian air force's plan to buy 114 multi-role aircraft to replace its Soviet-era fleet.

Ankur Kanaglekar, director, India Fighters Lead, Boeing Defense, Space & Security, told reporters discussions on the F-15EX had taken place earlier between the two governments.

"Now that we have the marketing licence it allows us to talk to the Indian Air Force directly about the capability of the fighter. We have started doing that in a small way," he said, adding conversations were expected to gather pace during the Aero India show next week.

India and the United States have built close defence ties, with the Indian military buying over $20 billion worth of weapons in the last 15 years.

Lockheed Martin is also pitching its F-21 fighter to the Indian air force, offering to build the plane in the country to win the deal estimated to be worth more than $18 billion.

Boeing is bullish on India for both its defence and commercial aviation businesses, even as the COVID-19 pandemic has hit demand for air travel, forcing airlines to first get their finances in order before ordering new planes.

Boeing expects domestic passenger traffic to return to 2019 levels by the end of this year, Salil Gupte, the company's India head said, adding international traffic would return to pre-COVID levels only by 2023.

One of the planemaker's biggest customers is Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet Ltd, which has a large order for its narrowbody 737 MAX planes.

Boeing on Wednesday got the green light from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to return its 737 MAX planes to service after a 22-month ban and Gupte said it was working to get approvals from the Indian regulator.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Top 10 Best Sainik Schools In India as per NDA Selection

In this article you will get to know about Best Sainik Schools in India, Best Sainik School of India and top 10 Sainik schools in India When India became independent, most of the officers in the defense at that time used to come from elite families. To rectify the regional and class imbalance amongst the Officer cadre of the India Military, V.K Krishna Menon came up with the idea of Sainik Schools. The idea was to prepare students for Entry in the NDA. In Sainik Schools, deserving students can get high-quality education irrespective of their income or class background. The mission of Sainik schools is to prepare the cadets academically, physically, and mentally to enter the portals of the NDA. Today there are 33 Sainik schools running and proposed for future covering all the states of the country. But it has always been a topic of discussion that which of these is the best Sainik School school in India. Why do children take admission in Sainik Schools?  So that they can become offi...

Explained: What is Army Aviation Corps, the youngest Corps of the Indian Army

A look at the Army Aviation Corps’ history and its relevance in modern day battlefields, including in Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorism (CI-CT) operations. Representative Image The Army Aviation Corps (AAC), the youngest Corps of the Indian Army, celebrated its 35th Corps Day on November 1. We take a look at the arm that adds an air dimension to the Army’s capabilities, its history, and its relevance in modern day battlefields, including Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorism (CI-CT) operations. The roots of Army Aviation Corps The origin of the AAC can be traced back to the raising of the Army Aviation wing of the Royal Air Force in India in 1942, and the subsequent formation of the first Indian Air Observation Post in August 1947. The Air Observation Post units primarily acted as artillery spotters – which are the elements that help the artillery in directing the fire and also giving air support to ground forces. In the wars of 1965 and 1971, the Air Observation Post helicop...

That time when India took half of Pakistan to make it pay for a motorcycle

In 1947, British officer Yahya Khan offered his colleague 1,000 rupees for his spiffy red motorcycle. His colleague, Sam Manekshaw, agreed. But before Khan could pay, he was off to what was going to become Pakistan. The British split its Indian colony, and things on the subcontinent have been pretty tense ever since. To top it all off, Yahya Khan didn't pay for the motorbike. But he would, even if it took almost 25 years. The Partition of India was much more than the splitting of the British Raj into two independent states. It was a catastrophic split that tore apart the country and created millions of refugees, cost millions of lives, and split the armed forces of the country in two, all based on religion. Violence erupted almost immediately between the two groups on such a large scale that much of it has never been forgotten or forgiven. Animosity continued between both sides for decades, and the two have fought war after war because of the myriad issues left unaddressed. By 1970...