WASHINGTON — As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Washington, he is walking away with a new offer for a C-17 aircraft.
Australia, too, got good news today, as the State Department cleared the sale of up to five Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, or ISR, aircraft worth an estimated $1.3 billion.
The C-17 sale, worth an estimated $366.2 million, adds to India's existing fleet of transport aircraft. This likely represents the final C-17 sale to India, as Boeing ended production on new aircraft in 2015.
Modi did not, however, get the all-clear to procure 22 RQ-9B unmanned systems. Although State has all but finished clearing that sale, the final details on estimated price and other aspects are still being negotiated, according to an industry source.
Australia’s ISR aircraft request, worth an estimated $1.3 billion, would cover procurement of five Gulfstream G-550 aircraft "modified to integrate Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Electronic Warfare (AISREW) mission systems."
The work will primarily be done by L3 in Greenville, Texas.
Aaron Mehta was deputy editor and senior Pentagon correspondent for Defense News, covering policy, strategy and acquisition at the highest levels of the Defense Department and its international partners.
