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6:51 p.m. EDT April 23, 2015
MELBOURNE, Australia — Boeing said it still had five C-17A Globemaster transports for sale following confirmation that the Royal Australian Air Force would take another two.
However a Boeing spokesman denied knowledge of any options and said that five of the 10 "white tail" aircraft it has privately funded remain for sale.
"There are no options, all five are currently available for sale," the spokesman said.
Erwin"The [forthcoming] Force Structure Review will consider two further C-17A aircraft [a 9th and 10th C-17A]."
17 Aug, 2015, 04.00AM IST
The Indian Air Force appears to have taken too longto push through a Rs 8,100 crore proposal to buy
three new Boeing C-17 transport aircraft.
The American manufacturer simply does not have that many aircraft to
sell anymore,
having pledged four of the last five C-17s in its production line
to Qatar.
After months of efforts, the air force, at a Services Capital
Acquisition Plan meeting on July 31,
managed to push through the proposal to add
three aircraft to its existing fleet of 10 Boeing C-17s that were ordered in 2011.
Officials said the proposal
is likely to be taken up by the high powered Defence Acquisition Council (DAC)
shortly.
However, Boeing officials have gone on record to say that after
signing the contract with Qatar the
company is left with just one C-17 for sale.
With its production facility for
the aircraft at Long Beach in shut-down mode, the company has already halted the
production line.
Boeing had five C-17 aircraft to sell when the air force first moved the proposal in April, as ET had
first reported.
Officials said the air force could get committed
aircraft from US inventory or retracted orders of a third country
chances of this happening are slim.
A solution cannot be ruled out, they said,
given that the deal is being processed under the Foreign Military Sales
pact.
New Delhi, December 20, 2016 | UPDATED 06:21 IST
IAF to buy last US C-17 aircraft left
"We will now buy whatever we can and are planning to buy the single aircraft left with the US.
In this regard, we are planning to move our proposal in a key Defence Ministry meeting planned to be held this month," a senior IAF source told
The aircraft would help the Air Force expand its inventory of 10 C-17 Globemaster heavylift transport aircraft which has been used by the force to carry out several major operations including airlift of new currency notes after the demonetisation drive by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The price of the single aircraft would be more than Rs2,500 crore and would be delivered in a
couple of years after the contract is signed between India and the US under a Foreign Military Sales route contract.
India had bought the previous 10 aircraft from the American government under a $4.1 billion (Rs2,780 crore approx) deal and all of them are deployed at its Hindon air force base near here.
India on verge of losing last available C-17 Globemaster over red tape
• 8 November, 2017
Special request made to US in 2015 to hold last C-17 Globemaster aircraft; MoD process stuck despite approval.
New Delhi:
India is on the verge of losing the last available C-17 heavy transport aircraft
that it lobbied hard
to procure due to red tape.
There is also a possibility of another country snagging the much valued lifter because of India’s delays.
The Indian Air Force has been keen to add to its current fleet of 10 C-17 Globemaster aircraft that have taken part in rescue and relief missions, besides carrying out operational missions across the country.
The IAF had cleared a proposal in 2015 to buy three more heavy lifters at a cost of Rs 8,100 crore but the long running procurement process meant that its manufacturer, Boeing, ran out of aircraft to sell.
The C-17 production line has been shut down and only one aircraft was left for offer to India.
While the Indian side made efforts at the highest levels to procure the last available C-17 in the world
– requesting Washington to block sales request from other countries interested in the aircraft –
the bureaucratic processes are not yet complete.
Officials told ThePrint that Washington could rescind the offer
due to repeated delays by the defence ministry
to send the formal ‘Letter of Acceptance’ (LOA).
An LOA is part of the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route that India and the US follow for direct government-to-government sales.
Sources said that while the Indian side had until October to respond to the LOA,
an extension was requested from Washington
to extend the date until November.
Now, a further extension has been sought until next year
Delays and extensions have remained a norm for most Indian defence procurements over the years
and there have been several instances
when equipment was finally bought after more than five years’ delay and at a higher cost.
In 2011, India had bought 10 such aircraft at a cost of $4.7 billion. The contract also had a follow-on clause to procure six more aircraft.
However, with limited resources available, the IAF had asked for an additional three, impressed by its abilities, especially in rescue and relief missions in India and the neighbourhood.
With last-minute approval, India set to snap up world’s last available C-17 Globemaster
Manu Pubby • 20 December, 2017
Two yearsafter special request made to hold aircraft, defence ministry committee clears signing of contract.
New Delhi: India is now set to snap up the world’s last available C-17 heavy transport aircraft
after a last-minute approval by the defence ministry last week,
two years
A meeting of the defence acquisition committee (DAC)
headed by minister Nirmala Sitharaman cleared the procurement
that will take the total number of the transport aircraft in the Indian Air Force to 11.
US manufacturer Boeing has shut down the production line after producing 279 aircraft and the last C-17 Globemaster
had more than one global contender
given its unique role
as a large airlifter optimised for special operations, humanitarian assistance missions and carrying troops over large distances.
The lone aircraft is likely to cost India over Rs 2,700 crore and
could arrive within a few months after the formal signing of the contract.
The plane is being bought under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) or direct government purchase route from Washington.
With the clearance, the defence ministry will now send a formal ‘letter of acceptance’ (LOA) to confirm the sale.
As reported by ThePrint,
India had lobbied hard to get the last plane since 2015 but bureaucratic red tape
had created the possibility of the aircraft being taken up by another buyer.
Sources said that the aircraft – which has been produced and kept mothballed – will be prepped up and will go through a set of tests before being delivered.
In 2015, the Air Force had cleared
a proposal to buy three of the heavy lifters at a cost of Rs 8,100 crore
but as procurement process dragged on,
its manufacturer Boeing ran out of aircraft to sell as the C-17 production line was shut down.
In 2011, India had bought 10 aircraft for $4.7 billion.
The contract also had a follow-on option clause to procure six more aircraft.
However, with limited resources available,
the Air Force had asked for an additional three, impressed by its operational abilities.
http://www.janes.com/article/78966/indi ... 17-awardedThe Boeing Co., Defense, Space, and Security, Huntington Beach, California,
has been awarded a $262,000,000 not-to-exceed undefinitized contract action for one C-17 aircraft.
This contract provides for delivery of a C-17 aircraft in the India unique configuration.
Work will be performed in San Antonio, Texas, and is expected to be complete by Aug. 22, 2019.
This contract involves foreign military sales to the country of India.
This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition.
Foreign military sales funds in the amount of $2,000,000 are being obligated at the time of award.
Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8614-18-C-0003).
A USD262 million award for the delivery of the last C-17 to the Indian Air Force (IAF)
to roll off the now-closed production line at Long Beach, California, was announced on 30 March.
The aircraft, which was built as a ‘white-tail’ (with no customer yet signed up),
will join the 10 C-17s already fielded by the IAF by 22 August 2019.
This contract follows US State Department approval of the sale,
which the Defense Security and Cooperation Agency (DSCA) had originally put at USD336.2 million.
The additional funds will cover further ancillary equipment as well as sustainment and support.
As with all the other operators of the C-17,
the IAF’s fleet is supported by Boeing via its Globemaster III Integrated Sustainment Program (GISP) performance-based logistics contract.
This ‘virtual fleet’ enables international customers to tap into the US Air Force’s (USAF’s) vast support infrastructure.
It is likely that a large percentage of the value of this proposed Indian sale
is related to the aircraft’s through-life sustainment and support through the GISP programme.
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