India to buy 10 Boeing C-17 heavy-lift aircraft for $2.5bn

New Delhi: US aerospace and defence giant, Boeing Co, said today India was planning to buy 10 C-17 Globemaster heavy-lift aircraft and that the US government had received a 'Letter of Request' in this regard. Should it mature the deal for Boeing is likely to be worth $2.5 billion.

C-17 Globemaster III

"Boeing is very pleased that the Indian government has expressed interest in acquiring the C-17 to modernise its airlift capabilities, and we look forward to working closely with them," Boeing Integrated Defense System's India head Vivek Lall said in a statement here.

This late announcement from Boeing is puzzling as reports suggesting this move by India had begun circulating last month and indeed defence ministry sources have confirmed off-the-record that the request to the US government was indeed dispatched last year.

The C-17 delivers a payload of around 75-80 tonnes, which is near double the capacity of the Indian Air Force's Il-76 'Candid' heavy-lift transports of 46 tonnes payload. The Il-76's capacity is near three time that of the Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules for which the IAF has placed an initial order of six, with options.

The IAF has been trying to augment and replace its Soviet-era transport fleet, which is almost entirely composed of IL-76 and medium-lift An-32 transport aircraft.

As opposed to the Il-76's capability to ferry 120-140 troops, the C-17 can carry up to 200. It can also be used to carry armoured vehicles, artillery guns and medium-sized helicopters from one place to another.