Government defers decision on 16 naval multi-role helicopters

NEW DELHI: The Navy's wait for desperately-needed anti-submarine warfare helicopters to operate from its warships has just got longer. The Modi government has deferred the decision on acquisition of 16 naval multi-role helicopters (MRH) since one of the two companies in the fray is linked to Italian conglomerate Finmeccanica, which is under the scanner in the infamous VVIP helicopter case.

The long-pending naval MRH procurement project has been "kept on hold" till the CBI completes its probe into the kickbacks in the 556 million euro contract inked between India and AgustaWestland, the UK-based subsidiary of Finmeccanica, in February 2010, said sources.

India had scrapped the VVIP helicopter contract in January after earlier having frozen all further payments to AgustaWestland despite having inducted only three of the 12 AW-101 helicopters. Since then, the defence ministry had recovered almost the entire 45% of the total contract value it had paid to AgustaWestland by "encashing" its bank guarantees.

The Defence Acquisitions Council (DAC), chaired by defence minister Arun Jaitley on July 19, deferred the decision on the MRH helicopter project while clearing other military procurement proposals. The two contenders in the competition are the European NH-90 helicopters, which have Finmeccanica as a partner, and the American Sikorsky-70B choppers.

The contract is crucial for the Navy since it was to be followed by a bigger one for 123 helicopters, with anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities as well as customized for amphibious assaults and commando operations, at a cost of over $3 billion.

"The Navy had sought the way forward in the MRH helicopter project, which also included deviations being sought by the two companies in their offsets proposals, but the DAC has kept the entire matter pending for now," said a source.

While the Navy is on track to induct four to five warships every year over the next decade, it is fast running out of helicopters meant to detect, track and kill enemy submarines. The force currently has just 11 Kamov-28 and 17 Sea King ASW helicopters to defend its existing fleet of over 130 warships. While the Sea Kings are over 20 years old, the Kamov-28s are long overdue for a mid-life upgrade.