INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Military is also looking to buy submarines, warships and battlefield communication systems.LUCKNOW: US and European defence firms backed
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's military modernisation drive at a defence exhibition on Friday, despite a lengthy procurement process running
into years and limited funds.Airbus SE and US-based Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co
are eying multi-billion dollar deals under PM Modi's aim to upgrade an ageing fleet of aircraft and enhance local arms manufacturing to cut
imports."I feel encouraged overall," Anand Stanley, President and managing director of Airbus India and South Asia, told Reuters."Every year
the government is doing capital allocation
They are spending," he said.The military is also looking to buy submarines, warships and battlefield communication systems
But these have made little headway.Airbus is offering to set up an assembly line in India in partnership with the Tata Group to produce the
C295W military transport aircraft as a replacement for Indian Air Force's Avro fleet.The Rs 12,000 crore Avro replacement programme has been
in the pipeline for almost a decade.Airbus on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Adani Aerospace and Defence, part of
the diversified Adani Group, for aircraft services in India and South Asia.Boeing, which has pitched its F/A-18 Block III Super Hornet
fighter for the India air force and navy and is competing with Lockheed Martin's F-21, said it plans to push India's armed forces' drive for
modernisation through a suite of five products - the Super Hornet, KC-46 tanker, P-8I aircraft, AH-64E Apache and CH-47(I) Chinook
helicopters.The company said it wants to build a global defence and aerospace ecosystem "that creates jobs and industrial capacity with Make
in India," said Salil Gupte, president, Boeing India in a statement during the exhibition.Boeing and Lockheed will be competing with
Sweden's Saab AB with its Gripen fighter and France's Dassault Aviation SA Rafale and Russian fighter aircraft.Lockheed Martin, as part of
its fighter jet F-21 proposal for the Indian Air Force, signed an MoU with Bharat Electronics Ltd on Friday to explore industrial
opportunities around the F-21 fleet, which is essentially building up a spare and supply ecosystem.The three aerospace giants, with huge
displays at the Defence Expo 2020 held in the northern city of Lucknow, displayed miniaturised versions of the latest aircraft and
helicopters that they have pitched to India.Another French defence firm, Dassault, which recently delivered its first Rafale aircraft to the
government in October under a contract to supply 36 units, said it is developing its facility in central India to make the Rafale jets in
