India-US started price negotiations for C-17

USAF C-17 Globemaster

India and the United States have begun talks on the price and onboard equipment for the 10 Boeing C- 17 military transport aircraft that the Indian Air Force (IAF) wants.

According to reliable sources quoted by India Strategic defense magazine, the validation trials of the aircraft were complete and that one United States Air Force (USAF) C-17 which had come to India in this regard last month had met the IAF specifications. The aircraft was tested in short and high altitude runways.

As India is buying the aircraft from the US government under its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, the US Department of Defense (DOD) and USAF are leading the discussions from the supplier side and the Indian Ministry of Defense and the IAF are negotiating from the buyer side.

DOD has set the maximum price at $5.8 billion for the aircraft and various systems but the actual price would depend upon what equipment and onboard options the IAF finally selects.
The US government will issue a Letter of Acceptance (LOA) after these discussions are finalized, indicating the equipment, services, and lifecycle support and their costs. There would be a 3.8 per cent administrative fee that the US government now charges on all FMS deals. (This fee varies periodically between 2.5 to 5 per cent).

- economictimes.indiatimes.com

Third A400M Aircraft Takes First Flight

On July 9, the third Airbus Military A400M development aircraft, MSN3, took its maiden flight from the Seville manufacturing site in Spain.

On the same day, Airbus Military clocked up its 100th test flight on the A400M, with the aircraft now having reached the 400-flight-hour mark. It was flown by Airbus’s test pilots Tony Flynn and François Barre. Five aircraft eventually will be involved in the flight test program, which is expected to total 3,700 hours.

The first aircraft to carry a medium flight-test instrumentation load instead of the heavy test fit, MSN3 will be used mainly for auto-flight, systems and route-proving developments. At the end of the year, the fourth A400M is planned to join the flight test program. In mid-2011, the fifth aircraft will join, too.

The A400M is a European long-range military transport aircraft designed as a tactical airlifter with strategic capabilities. The €136 million plane is powered by four Europrop TP400-D6 engines. It has a wingspan of 42.4m with eight propellers attached to the wings. It is 45.1m in length and 14.7m in height.

-aviationweek.com

-wikipedia.org