Feature Image Credits: Boeing
Aerospace and defence major Boeing has received the licence from President Joseph Biden to offer its F-15EX fighter jet to India, reports Times of India. By approving the offer, Biden gives Boeing a huge opportunity to bag a $18 billion deal by selling 114 fighter jets to the Indian Air Force (IAF).
By giving Boeing the licence, the company can directly engage with the IAF about the fighter jet’s capabilities. According to Ankur Kanaglekar, director of India Fighters Lead, Boeing Defence, Space & Security, the company has already begun to do that in a small way. Discussions over the F-15EX have also taken place between the two governments earlier, Kanaglekar added.
The procurement of 114 advanced fighters for the IAF is being called the “mother of all arms deals”. Another US-based defence and aerospace major, Lockheed Martin, has also jumped into the race by offering its F-21 fighter jet to the IAF. Lockheed Martin has gone one step further by proposing to build the plane in India, which some defence experts believe would lead to India to develop its indigenous defence capability.
However, French aerospace major Dassault, which makes the Rafale fighter jets recently inducted by India into its air force, is also in the fray along with Swedish defence major SAAB. The latter is offering up its Gripen fighter jet in a bid to win the deal for 114 fighter jets estimated to be worth more than $18 billion.
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