India set to clear $2 billion deal for US anti-submarine warfare choppers

While the navy needs at least 100 such multi-role helicopters, the government has decided to go for the outright purchase of 24 anti-submarine warfare helicopters from US.

Updated on: Jun 22, 2018, 07:52:22 IST

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | By Shishir Gupta

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Ahead of the crucial two-plus-two dialogue in Washington, the Narendra Modi government is expected to approve a $2-billion deal for the purchase of anti-submarine warfare helicopters for the Indian Navy from the US through the government to government (G2G) route, according to South Block officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

This file photo taken on February 14, 2017 shows a Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter aircraft from the US Air Force performing an aerial display over the skies of Yelahanka Air Force Station on the inaugural day of the 11th edition of Aero India, a biennial air show and aviation exhibition, in Bangalore. (AFP)

Bilateral negotiations on the Communications, Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) have moved forward and the military communication agreement could be initialed later this year after basic Indian concerns have been addressed by the Pentagon, these officials added.

The foreign and defence ministers of India will meet their US counterparts in Washington on July 6.

South Block officials said the Defence Acquisition Council is scheduled to meet on June 30 to give a final approval to the purchase of US Sikorsky S-70B multi-role helicopters.

While the navy needs at least 100 such multi-role helicopters, the government has decided to go for the outright purchase of 24 anti-submarine warfare helicopters from US.

There is also the possibility of India placing a follow-up order for 12 more Boeing P 8I maritime surveillance aircraft at a later stage for the Indian Navy in a bid to boost its reconnaissance capabilities on high seas, the officials added.

Although preparations for the two plus two dialogue have begun in the earnest in Delhi, the COMCASA agreement will have to wait for later this year after the Indian side conveyed some concerns on the foundational agreement related to military operations. While both sides have broadly agreed to the text of the key foundational agreement, visiting senior Pentagon official Joseph Felter was briefed about India’s concerns and the way forward. The meetings on COMCASA took place on June 19-20.

Senior government officials did not rule out the possibility of US Defence Secretary James Mattis visiting India later this year to sign the COMCASA agreement.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shishir Gupta
Shishir Gupta is Executive Editor at Hindustan Times and one of India's top journalists covering national security, strategic affairs, foreign policy and geopolitics. Over the past three decades, he has extensively reported on India's military, diplomatic and security landscape, covering every major conflict and national security challenge, from the 1999 Kargil War and the 2020 East Ladakh standoff to Operation Sindoor in 2025. He has also covered major terror attacks, including the IC-814 hijacking, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and the 2025 Pahalgam terror strike, along with numerous Pakistan-backed terrorist incidents in the Kashmir Valley and across India. He has reported on national and state elections for more than three decades. A recognised authority on strategic affairs, Gupta has covered India's nuclear programme since the Pokhran-II (Shakti series) tests in May 1998 and has written extensively on global nuclear issues, Indian diplomacy and the country's expanding global outreach. He has also reported widely on international conflicts and terrorism, with a special focus on the Indian subcontinent. Gupta has interviewed Prime Minister Narendra Modi more than four times, including Modi's first interview with the print media after becoming Prime Minister in May 2014. His other interviews include three with the Dalai Lama, as well as conversations with Benjamin Netanyahu, Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath, S. Jaishankar, Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal. He is the author of Indian Mujahideen: The Enemy Within (Hachette, 2011) and Himalayan Face-off: Chinese Assertion and Indian Riposte (Hachette, 2014). He was awarded the Chevening-Wolfson Joint Scholarship at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, UK, in 1998 and participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) of the US State Department in 2006. He received the Ben Gurion Prize from Israel in 2011 and the K. Subrahmanyam Prize for Strategic Studies in 2015 from the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA). Since 2024, he has hosted Point Blank, Hindustan Times' weekly YouTube show on global geopolitics.Read More

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