Top US defence contractors to land in Feb

Top US defence contractors to land in Feb

Visit follows up on Rumsfeld tour, to run into aero expo

SHISHIR GUPTA

NEW DELHI, JANuary 25 Barely two weeks after India flaunts its Russian acquistions—Su-30 MKI fighter and T-90 battle tanks—at Rajpath tomorrow, a team of top US defence contractors will touch down here in a bid to boost bilateral defence ties and erase any misgivings over the reliability of American defence equipment. Organised by the US India Business Council, the 15-member delegation is expected to land on February 7 and meet Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and other senior ministry officials. The message: Washington is ready to sell military hardware. The delegation, following up on the December 9, 2004, visit of Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, will include top executives of mega companies such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Bell Helicopters, Boeing, Sikorsky helicopters and GE, apart from US defence officials. The delegation will also meet Indian private company executives to explore tie-ups for future joint production. The visit is seen as part of New Delhi’s fine-tuning of bilateral relations with the US, which is affected, at times, by the issue of military supplies to Pakistan. Defence cooperation is one core area in this exercise that Delhi is keen to focus on. US defence contractors will also showcase their equipment in a big way during the Aero-India expo in Bangalore from February 9-13. Their interest in India’s military budget is evident from the fact that they have rented 1,200 sqm of space at the Bangalore expo this time, in comparison to a mere 400 sqm last year. The US Department of Defence will showcase two F-15 Eagles, one KC-135 refueller, one P-3C Orion maritime surveillance aircraft and one extended Hercules 130-J. Apart from the US defence companies mentioned above, United Technologies, ITT Industries, MOOG Incorporated and Spec Technologies will participate in the Bangalore event. While Washington has offered Raytheon-made Patriot anti-missile system, Lockheed Martin-made F-16 fighters, P-3C Orion and Hercules to New Delhi, the Indian defence establishment still carries the baggage of USS Enterprise in 1971 and post-Pokhran military sanctions.