BY : ZEENEWS

United States has offered India a $1,059 million deal to sell six C-130J Hercules aircraft with associated equipment and services to provide it special operations airlift capability and ensure interoperability with American forces in coalition operations.

The US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced Tuesday that it had notified Congress of India's request for the sale of six Lockheed Martin C-130J aircraft as required by US law.

It has also informed the legislature that the deal will not affect the basic military balance in the region. Nor will there be any adverse impact on US defence readiness.

The C-130J Hercules primarily performs the tactical portion of the airlift mission. The aircraft is capable of operating from rough, dirt strips and is the prime transport for air dropping troops and equipment into hostile areas.

The flexible design of the Hercules enables it to be configured for many different missions, allowing for one aircraft to perform the role of many. Much of the special mission equipment added to the Hercules is removable, allowing the aircraft to revert back to its cargo delivery role if desired.

'This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of an important partner and to strengthen the US-India strategic relationship, which continues to be an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in South Asia,' DSCA said.

'India and the United States are forging an important strategic partnership. The proposed sale will enhance the foreign policy and national security objectives of the US by providing the Indian Government with a credible special operations airlift capability that will deter aggression in the region, provide humanitarian airlift capability and ensure interoperability with US forces in coalition operations.'

Other equipment sought by India includes four Rolls Royce AE 2100D3 spare engines; eight AAR-47 Missile Warning Systems; eight AN/ALR-56M Advanced Radar Warning Receivers; eight AN/ALE-47 Counter-Measures Dispensing Systems; and eight AAQ-22 Star SAFIRE III Special Operations Suites.

Also requested are eight ALQ-211 Suite of Integrated Radio Frequency Countermeasures; two spare AN/ARC-210 Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio Systems (SINCGARS); eight spare Secure Voice Very High Frequency/Ultra High Frequency Radios; four spare Secure Voice High Frequency Radios; three spare AN/AAR-222 SINCGARS and Key Gen (KV-10) Systems; one KIV-119 Non-standard Communication/ COMSEC equipment and two ARC-210 Non-standard Communication/COMSEC equipment.

The deal includes spare and repair parts, configuration updates, communications security equipment and radios, integration studies, support equipment, publications and technical documentation, technical services, personnel training and training equipment, foreign liaison office support, Field Service Representatives' services, US Government and contractor engineering and logistics personnel services, and other related elements of logistics support.

Offset agreements associated with the proposed sale are expected, but at this time the specific offset agreements are undetermined and will be defined in negotiations between the purchaser and contractors, DSCA said.

The principal contractors will be: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company in Fort Worth, Texas and Rolls-Royce Corporation in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Implementation of this proposed sale may require the assignment of 10 each US Government and contractor representatives in India for up to two weeks, DSCA said.