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The deal between India and the United States, for the purchase of six Lockheed C-130J military transport planes, has set the stage for American companies bidding for the contract for multi-role combat aircraft, a top US defence official has said.
"It is a very good plane and is very widely used. It is a workhorse and it has been used for 40 years...it can really take off on a much shorter runway and India basically lacks this kind of an airplane," James Clad, the deputy assistant secretary of defence, said.
India and the US will soon sign a major arms deal, with the government finally giving the nod for the purchase of the six C-130J aircraft at an estimated cost of Rs 4,000 crore.
Talking to PTI, Clad, the senior Pentagon official whose portfolio is South and South East Asia, said the deal has helped breach a psychological barrier.
"What it does it is that it squarely puts Lockheed Martin on the ground with Boeing, which is already there in India in civilian aircraft.
"It is one of those things where the psychology is very significant. There have been other things like Raytheon radars but this is the kind of thing that has an effect on the defence corporate community...diligence, good work and products make the difference," he said.
"It puts us on the scoreboard," Clad added."The time, since the request for proposal went out, it was a pretty straightforward thing. And that signals things as well," he remarked.
"The main thing is that it is six planes and there have been far bigger deals in the trade world. It is a plane that is very inter-operable.. it is huge and has a tremendous variety of functions and it has the impact of putting Lockheed Martin squarely on the ground," Clad maintained.
He said it is expected that Boeing and Lockheed will bid on the multi-role combat aircraft for the Indian Air Force too and "that's a psychological boost in the arm."
"The MRCA has a timeline for response to the RFP which I think is March 2. It is the beginning of a long, long process but the Lockheed deal of six C-130Js seems to be done. It is done," Clad said.
The Cabinet Committee on Security's clearance for the Lockheed deal came ahead of the first-ever visit to India by new US Defence Secretary Robert Gates later this month.
During the trip, comprehensive discussions in the realm of bilateral defence relations are expected to be held, focusing not only on the short and medium-term ties but laying out a framework for the long term as well.
Defence and security relationship between India and the United States is one of those 'deeper ongoing things', Clad remarked. "Think of it as a trendline that is gradually but definitely going up," he said.