A scramble for a piece of the world's largest fighter plane deal in over a decade moved into its final stage Friday with India examining the final bids from global weapons giants. Indian defence ministry and industry sources said the choice appeared to have narrowed down to the Russian-built MiG-35 and MiG-29 aircraft, and US offerings the Lockheed Martin F-16 and Boeing F-18.

A top defence procurement committee meeting had been expected to result in an announcement of the vendor of the 126 war planes, but an official statement late on Friday only said the tender has been "fine tuned."

Also in the race to replace a chunk of India's ageing fleet of 700 MiG-21s are Eurofighter's Typhoon, Saab's Gripen and Dassault's Rafale and Mirage -- although price considerations have left these contenders at a disadvantage, defence officials and industry sources said.

"The proposals from the likely contenders would first be technically evaluated by a professional team to check for compliance with the IAF's (Indian Air Force) operational requirements," the statement said.

"The vendors are required to provide life-time support and performance-based warranty for the aircraft," it said.

Defence sources added the IAF will buy 18 jets off the shelf and build the remaining planes under licence in India.

The contract -- described as the world's biggest fighter jet deal in over a decade -- will be the first time India's huge defence establishment has bought fighters after evaluating rival bids through a global tender.

The statement also said the deal would be subject to so-called "offset obligations" -- in that a large part of the value of the deal will have to be spent in India.

The Indian military introduced this clause into all major defence deals in the mid-1990s as a way of protecting itself from non-delivery as well as boosting its own domestic industry.

Defence ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar said the selection process would be "transparent and fair."

"Indian defence industries should also get an opportunity to grow to global scales," he added.

With US offerings seen has having a strong chance, the deal could also mark a shift away from India's traditional dependence on Russian hardware.

Ties between Moscow -- which meets 75 percent of India's military needs -- and India are now bumpy due to a delay in the delivery of a Russian aircraft carrier and acrimony over escalating Russian export costs.

November 4, 2006

Press Trust Of India

Chennai, July 01, 2007

First Published: 02:20 IST(1/7/2007)

Last Updated: 02:22 IST(1/7/2007)

Nimitz to be berthed at safe distance from port: official

Seeking to dispel fears about possible radiation from the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, the Indian Navy official in-charge of Tamil Nadu on Saturday said it would be berthed at a "safe distance" of two nautical miles from this port city.

Commodore Philip Van Haltern told reporters in Chennai that it was wrong to think that India did not have any supervisory procedures for the entry of nuclear-powered ships.

"The country has standard procedures for clearing vessels, including nuclear-powered ones, for being berthed near the coast," he said.

USS Pinckney, a destroyer, will accompany the Nimitz into Indian waters on July 2, he said.

The chairman of the environment safety committee, AK Reddy, said the panel on radiation had conducted a check on the warship on June 5. Another check will be conducted when it leaves the coast.

When the Nimitz berths near the Chennai coast, a radiation monitoring process will be in place and water and air samples will be periodically analysed for radiation, he said.

According to the radiation safety contingency plan, a crisis managment group, comprising scientists from the Defence Research and Development Organisation, BARC and the defence laboratory in Jodhpur, will monitor the ships, he said.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=ea722b78-f565-4f86-8f2c-b9d3d00f0343

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