NEW DELHI, May 26 (RIA Novosti) - India has dropped
Russia from a $1-bln tender to supply six aerial tankers for
the Indian Air Force due to poor after-sales maintenance
services, the Hindustan Times cited the air force chief as
saying.
The Indian Air Force has been operating a fleet of Russian
Il-78 aerial tankers for six years and announced a global
tender for an additional six aircraft three years ago. The
Russian Il-78 and the European Airbus A330 MRTT were the
contenders.
"We have finished all evaluations and selected the A330
MRTT. The deal will come up for final approval by the Cabinet
Committee on Security (CCS) very soon. The Russian platform did
not meet certain requirements," Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi
Major said in an interview with the Hindustan Times published
on Monday.
Major said India was not satisfied with the level of
after-sales service provided by Russia.
"After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Russia has
changed the whole pattern of doing defense business. Now we are
faced with issues concerning spares, vendor support and
built-in delays in the structure of their centralized military
corporations," he said.
Although India remains a key buyer of Russian weaponry,
bilateral military-technical ties have been overshadowed by
recent spats over problems with supplies of spare parts, poor
sales support, steep maintenance costs and technology transfer
issues.
The A330 MRTT (Multi Role Tanker Transporter) is
manufactured by EADS on the basis of the A330 passenger
airliner. The first A330 MRTT will be delivered to the IAF
within three years of signing the deal, with the remaining five
to be supplied up to 15 months later, the newspaper said.
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