| India seals 700m pound Hawk jets deal |
| | Wed, 28 Jul 2010 |
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BANGALORE: India and the United Kingdom signed a £700 million Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) Hawk trainer deal during British Prime Minister David Cameron's visit here on Wednesday. Cameron oversaw the signing of the agreement between BAE Systems and HAL on terms and conditions under which India would produce additional 57 of BAE's Hawks.
India had earlier purchased 66 Hawks from BAE that included 24 in fly-away condition, with 42 to be produced by HAL under licence from BAE. With the new order, India has purchased 123 Hawks from Britain.
As per the contract, BAE's business with HAL would be worth 500 million pounds and Rolls-Royce's business would be 200 million pounds. Rolls-Royce will supply engines for the Hawks.
The final terms and conditions for the contract for the BAE Hawk were signed by Guy Griffiths, Group Managing Director International, BAE Systems, and HAL Chairman Ashok Nayak, in the presence of Cameron and BAE Systems Chairman Dick Olver.
The aircraft will be manufactured under licence at HAL's facilities in Bangalore and BAE Systems will provide specialist engineering services, raw materials and equipment for airframe production and the support package for the IAF and Indian Navy end users.
BAE Systems India Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Gallagher said: "The Hawk AJT fast jet training solution enables an Air Force or Navy to provide frontline pilots for even the most modern fighter aircraft such as the Eurofighter Typhoon or Sukhoi SU-30."
This year, BAe Systems and Mahindra & Mahindra launched Defence Land Systems India, a joint venture whose first product is a mine protected vehicle designed and developed specifically for India.
With 18 customers, the Hawk has been widely exported around the world, including Australia, Canada, South Africa, Bahrain, India. UK's Royal Air Force uses the aircraft as well.
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