US to share design of Orion aircraft with India

I'm sure the Pakis are going green with envy..

US to share design of Orion aircraft with India

BANGALORE: US-based aerospace firm, Lockheed Martin, said on Wednesday it had inked a pact with India’s state-run Hindustan Aeronautics to share information on the P-3 Orion maritime surveillance aircraft.

Under the agreement the firms will share information on airframe component design, manufacturing and overhaul, said Dennys Plessas, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics regional vice-president.

"The signing will allow us to proceed to the next level of maturity in our business relationship with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited," Plessas told a news conference here at the Aero India show.

He said the agreement had been approved by the US State Department. Sanctions on US military sales to India imposed after its May 1998 nuclear tests were waived in 2001 after New Delhi offered support in the war on terrorism.

India’s military wants to buy used P-3 Orion aircraft as well as Lockheed Martin’s F-16 fighter jet but Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee expressed reluctance to sign deals with US arms suppliers because Washington could re-impose sanctions.

Mukherjee said on the sidelines of the air show, India needs to ensure uninterrupted support for any defence system it purchases. "With the possibility of sanctions, (America’s) credibility as a supplier is in question. Dependability as a source of supply and technology transfer are the two most important criteria for defence cooperation," he said. India’s pledge of "no first use" of nuclear weapons was the only assurance New Delhi could give Washington that its atomic arsenal is secure, Mukherjee said.