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Boeing seeks to persuade India to buy Super Hornet fightersBy Philip Dine
Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau
07/26/2005
WASHINGTON – The prospect of selling fighter jets to the world’s largest democracy is generating mounting interest at Boeing’s military headquarters in St. Louis.
Executives are just back from a trip to India late last week, during which they spoke to political and military leaders about the possible sale of the St. Louis-built F/A-18 Super Hornet.
In India, Chris Chadwick, Boeing’s vice president for Hornet programs, told Indian reporters, “As the world watches closely while the story of India unfolds, we at Boeing see the next 60 years of aerospace in India as dynamic, entrepreneurial and globally dynamic.”
India is in the market for 126 aircraft, said Boeing spokeswoman Pat Frost, who accompanied Chadwick and others on the trip. Advertisement
“That’s a lot of airplanes. It’s a great opportunity,” Frost said Tuesday. The Boeing group spoke to Air Force and government officials who’re trying to put together a formal request for proposals. That request is expected to be ready between mid-fall and December, Frost said.
“We know they’re interested in co-production and technology transfer,” Frost said. “We’re willing to entertain all these different options.”
A sale to India would be Boeing’s first international deal for the Super Hornet, though the F/A-18 Hornet has been sold overseas. Right now, the U.S. Navy is the Super Hornet’s sole customer.
The Boeing talks took place just a few days after India and the United States agreed to strengthen cooperation on nuclear, defense and security issues.
“With all the agreements going on between the U.S. government and India, India’s obviously becoming a very important economic player,” Frost said.
India, with more than 1 billion people and a rapidly growing economy, is an attractive customer, particularly because with a birth rate higher than China, it is expected to become the largest nation on Earth.
Boeing is trying to take advantage of the decision earlier this year by the administration of President George W. Bush to allow fighter sales to India after agreeing to sell F-16s, built by Lockheed Martin Corp., to India’s arch-rival neighbor, Pakistan.
“They’ve got a reasonable chance in India,” said Richard Aboulafia, aerospace analyst at the Teal Group Corp. in Fairfax, Va. “The big advantage they have is the U.S. Navy’s stamp of approval, and this is going to be a consistently upgraded aircraft.”
At this point, Aboulafia said he’d give a slight edge to Lockheed’s F-16, in part because Pakistan has the F-16 and is buying more. European aircraft also plan to compete in India.
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