NEW DELHI, May 27 (RIA Novosti) -- The Indian Air Force (IAF) has announced a number of tenders for the purchase of 22 combat and 15 heavy-lift helicopters from U.S., European and Russian producers, an Indian daily reported on Wednesday.
The Times of India said the military had been pressing the government for several years to replace and modernize their mostly Soviet-vintage inventory.
The IAF acquired a few Mi-26s in the mid-1980s, but the aircraft are now ageing, short of spare components and need replacing.
The paper said the tender for the 22 combat helicopters was first released just before the Berlin Air Show in May 2008 to six contenders, three U.S. companies - Sikorsky (Black Hawk), Boeing (Apache AH 64D), Bell (Super Cobra) - and Eurocopter (Tiger) Russia's Mil (Mi-35), and Augusta Westland for Mangusta.
The U.S. companies said, however, they were unable to take part in the original tender in the United States due to "time constraints and procedural bottlenecks." The IAF decided to re-issue the tender to ensure that the most competitive aircraft were involved in the procurement process.
Viuvek Lall, Boeing's Integrated Defense Systems country head for India, was quoted as saying: "Boeing has received the RfPs [Request for Proposals] for the attack and heavy lift helicopters and will review the requirements. Boeing's Apache and Chinook can provide the Indian Air Force with the most capable, proven and versatile platforms in their respective class."
A.J.S. Walia, Sikorsky's India vice president, said his company will pit "the world famous Black Hawk" against the competition.
