Lockheed a finalist for $10 billion Indian contract

BETHESDA, Md. (Map, News) - Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin is one of six international defense contractors invited by India to submit proposals for a $10 billion fighter jet contract.

The contract is the largest offered by any government in the last 15 years. Boeing is the only other U.S. contractor invited to bid, with the others coming from Russia, Sweden, France and a pan-European company.

This is the first time Lockheed has bid on an Indian military contract.

In the past, India has purchased its planes from Russia, but the recently improved relations between Washington and New Delhi have opened the Indian market to Western companies.

In a statement, Lockheed said it had prepared to bid on the contract for several months.

“We will now analyze the actual requirements in detail and begin defining an F-16 aircraft and an industrial solution that will provide India with the best overall capability, operability and value,” the company said.

India has the fourth-largest air force in the world, with 1,700 planes. It is seeking to bolster its air defenses as China grows in power and rival Pakistan plans to purchase Lockheed fighter jets.

The award is not likely to be given anytime soon given that bids must be submitted to and weighed by the Indian bureaucracy, said Paul Nisbet, a defense industry analyst at JSA Research. The company that wins the bid, however, is likely to make much more than the initial $10 billion award.

“It would be an excellent contract, no question about it,” he said. “There would be ancillary orders involving maintenance and updates of these aircrafts that would go on for 20 years.”

dfrancis@dcexaminer.com