The Slovak government has approved the purchase of 17 radar systems produced by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). The government-to-government contract, worth €148.2m, is subject to a requirement that 35 percent of the cost is invested in the Slovak defence sector. “That was one of the most important conditions,” an informed source told us.
Surendra Ahuja, the Managing Director of Boeing Defence India, has asked the Indian government to broaden the avenues for meeting offset obligations, including through space programmes. Ahuja called on the MoD to return to the wider scope for discharging obligations available in Defence Procurement Procedure 2016. “This allows for a holistic development of the Indian A&D sector since there are synergies between defence and commercial aviation,” he said.
France has offered to move the entire assembly line of the Panther medium utility helicopter and 70 percent of the Rafale fighter plane assembly line to India. According to Hindustan Times, the offer, which also includes technology transfer, came from Emmanuel Bonne, diplomatic advisor to French president Emmanuel Macron.
The Congressional Research Service, a nonpartisan public policy research institute of Congress, has published a report on U.S.-India Trade Relations. The report focuses on what the U.S. sees as Indian trade barriers. The report notes that the U.S. continues to press India to address its “forced” localisation practices, such as in-country data storage, domestic content, and domestic testing requirements.
Oman’s 2021 State Budget has revealed a list of new projects under the country’s Partnership for Development programme. The programme manages Oman’s offsets. The budget also outlines a number of Public Private Privatisation (PPP) initiatives.