Ahead of a foreign military sale potentially valued at $1.4 billion, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress Dec. 22 of a possible sale to India of engines, equipment, weapons, training, parts and logistical support for a possible Direct Commercial Sale of 22 AH-64D Block III Apache helicopters.
India has requested proposals from several foreign suppliers, including the United States, to provide the next generation attack helicopter for the Indian air force. In the competition, India has yet to select the Boeing [BA]-United States Army proposal.
DSCA is notifying Congress ahead of India’s selection of a next-generation attack helicopter supplier so that if the Boeing-U.S. Army proposal is selected, the United States might move as quickly as possible to implement the sale.
If India does choose the Boeing-U.S. Army proposal, it will request a possible sale of 50 T700-GE-701D engines, 12 AN/APG-78 Fire Control Radars, 12 AN/APR-48A Radar Frequency Interferometers, 812 AGM-114L-3 Hellfire Longbow missiles, 542 AGM-114R-3 Hellfire II missiles, 245 Stinger Block I-92H missiles, and 23 Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensors.
The potential sale would also include rockets, training and dummy missiles, 30mm ammunition, transponders, simulators, global positioning system/inertial navigation systems, and communication equipment. Also included would be spare and repair parts; tools and test equipment, support equipment, repair and return support, personnel training and training equipment; publications and technical documentation, U.S. government and contractor engineering and logistics support services; and other logistics support. These items would be provided in conjunction with a proposed direct commercial sale of 22 AH-64D Block III Apache helicopters.
DSCA said the proposed sale in support of AH-64D helicopters would improve India’s ability to strengthen its homeland defense and deter regional threats. Support for the AH-64D would provide an incremental increase in India’s defensive capability to counter ground-armored threats and modernize its armed forces.
The prime contractors would be Lockheed Martin [LMT] General Electric [GE]; Longbow Limited Liability Corp.; and Raytheon [RTN].
Implementation of this proposed sale will require the assignment of one U.S. government and seven contractor representatives to India for one week to conduct a detailed discussion of the various aspects of the hybrid program with Government of India representatives, DSCA said.