Boeing to clinch $2.4 billion Indian deal

Boeing looks set to win military contracts worth $2.4 billion from India for its Chinook and Apache helicopters, a report said Monday. Dow Jones Newswires, quoting an unidentified Indian Air Force official, said commercial negotiations would begin soon for the purchase of 15 Chinook CH-47F heavy-lift helicopters and 22 AH-64D Block III Apache helicopters. The transaction would mark a big shift for India away from its traditional supplier Russia. Boeing\'s twin-rotor Chinook was chosen recently as the preferred bidder over Russia-based MiL Moscow Helicopter Plant\'s Mi-26, while the Apache was selected over the Mi-28, Dow Jones reported. It quoted another person familiar with the matter as saying the Chinook deal was estimated at $1 billion while the Apache deal was worth $1.4 billion. There was no immediate comment available from the Indian Air Force or Boeing. Moscow has traditionally been the biggest supplier of aircraft and defence equipment to India. With the latest reported development, Russia would have lost both recent competitive tenders in India in which it took part -- the other being its bid to supply combat helicopters, which was also trumped by Boeing. Earlier this year, France\'s Rafale won a competition to provide 126 combat jets for the Indian Air Force. Russia supplies around 70 percent of India\'s military hardware. But New Delhi has been unhappy about delays in arms orders from Moscow and has looked to other suppliers including the United States and Israel in recent years.