After having lost out to the US in the race to supply “attack” and “heavy-lift” helicopters to India, Russia has now been upstaged in yet another mega defence deal. India has selected the European Airbus-330 MRTT over the Russian Ilyushin-78 mid-air refuelling aircraft in an Rs 8,500-crore contract. Defence ministry sources said the European Aeronautics Defence and Space Company (EADS) “is now being called for the final commercial negotiations” for acquisition of six Airbus-330 MRTT tankers. “The actual contract will be inked in the 2013-14 financial year since commercial negotiations with EADS will take some time. Moreover, there has been a massive cut (Rs 10,000 crore) in the defence capital budget for the ongoing fiscal,” said a source.
Source: Times of India
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