NEW DELHI \u2014 India has broken the monopoly of state-owned military aircraft manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), allowing private sector Tata Advanced Systems Ltd. (TASL) to tie up with Airbus and manufacture the C-295 transport aircraft to replace aging Avro transports in a $2 billion deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The historic decision by the Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) last night which <\/span> also approved the purchase of 145 M777 ultra light howitzers guns <\/span> from the US subsidiary of BAE Systems on a government-to-government basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The decision on the transport plane could help develop India’s private sector aerospace infrastructure, an Air Force official said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DAC also cleared a proposal to jointly produce Russian-made Ka-226T helicopters with HAL in India. The <\/span> Russian President Vladimir Putin had offered joint production of the Ka- 226T, helicopters <\/span> made by Kamov, of Russia <\/span> during talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi in December. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After coming to power last year, the Indian government canceled global tenders to buy for the purchase <\/span> 197 light utility helicopters (LUH) for the Indian <\/span> Army and Indian <\/span>Air Force, and later canceled another tender to purchase the LUH for the Navy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Russian <\/span> Ka-226T twin-engine helicopters would replace India’s the aging <\/span> Cheetah and Chetak helicopters. A Defence Ministry source of Defense (MoD) <\/span>said it is likely that the Russian helicopter Ka 226T <\/span> will meet all future needs of the military, defence forces <\/span>which has demanded more than 400 of over 400 <\/span> LUHs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Details of the joint production of the Ka-226T will be worked out separately <\/span> later, an MoD official said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The company Russian Helicopters did not respond to a request for comment on the terms of the India Ka-226T production deal, but a spokesperson for Russia’s arms export agency, Rosoboronexport, said, “[Russia] is ready to render technical assistance of any form to our Indian partners in mastering production of these helicopters.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rosoboronexport did not respond to a question about how Russia landed the deal, which has been debated on the ropes <\/span>for years, but President Vladimir <\/span>Putin broached the subject with Indian Prime Minister Narendra <\/span>Modi during his December visit and called Modi before India’s DAC Defense Acquisition Committee <\/span>announced its decision. approval of the Kamov Ka-226T production deal Putin called Modi.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n According to a brief statement published on the Kremlin website Wednesday, the two leaders discussed “several large joint trade and economic projects” as well as a range of other aspects of their growing strategic relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Avro Replacement<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n