New missiles for Mirage jets for $1.23 bn approved (Lead)
January 4th, 2012 - 9:39 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) India’s top security panel Wednesday cleared a $1.23-billion deal for purchasing 490 French air-to-air missiles for the air force’s 51-plane Mirage-2000 fleet.
The cabinet committee on security (CCS) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave its nod for signing of the contract with MBDA, which will supply the 490 MICA interception and aerial combat missiles as part of the second phase of plans for upgrading the Mirage fleet of the Indian Air Force (IAF), defence ministry sources said here.
The integration of the missiles on the Mirages will be executed by Thales, another French defence firm.
Though the CCS approval to the deal has come as a New Year gift for the IAF, the actual contract signing will take about a month from now, sources said.
The contract also envisages an offsets clause under which MBDA will plough back 30 percent of the deal — $360 million — in India’s defence, aviation and homeland security sectors.
India had in July last year signed a $2.4-billion with Thales and Dassault for upgrading the Mirages with night vision goggle-compatible glass cockpits, advanced navigational systems, advanced Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) systems, advanced multi-mode multi-layered radars, fully integrated electronic warfare suites and advanced beyond visual range (BVR) capability.
Two of the planes will be upgraded in France by Dassault, two in India with French help and the remaining 47 entirely by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. The upgrade of the entire fleet will take nine years. The first two Mirages have already been flown to France.
Defence Minister A.K. Antony had recently informed parliament that the Mirage upgrade will be completed by mid-2021.
- Mirage jets to get new missiles in $1.23 bn deal - Jan 04, 2012
- Government okays $2.4 bn Mirage-2000 upgrade - Jul 13, 2011
- Cabinet to take up Mirage upgrade deal this week - Jul 09, 2011
- Mirage combat jet upgrade contract signed for $2.4 bn (Lead) - Jul 29, 2011
- Defence brass split over French Mirage upgrade deal - Jun 19, 2011
- Defence modernisation: Critical deals materialised, others faced time overruns (2011 in retrospect) - Dec 27, 2011
- IAF to soon decide on bidder for Mirage upgrade - Jun 15, 2011
- Mirage upgrade contract signed for $2.4 bn - Jul 29, 2011
- IAF chief on four-day visit to France - May 21, 2012
- Facelift for two Mirage 2000 jets in French Riviera - Dec 05, 2011
- France's Dassault wins India's $10.4bn warplane deal (Intro Roundup) - Jan 31, 2012
- France's Dassault wins India's $10.4 bn combat jet deal (Roundup) - Jan 31, 2012
- Mirage upgrade deal by March-end: Air chief - Feb 10, 2011
- Top officer survives IAF Mirage-2000 crash (Second Lead) - Feb 24, 2012
- Timeline for India's combat jet deal - Apr 28, 2011
Tags: aerial combat, air to air missiles, cabinet committee, defence firm, french air, french defence, french help, glass cockpits, hindustan aeronautics limited, identification friend or foe, indian air force, manmohan singh, mbda, ministry sources, mirage 2000, mirages, prime minister manmohan, prime minister manmohan singh, security panel, security sectors