New Delhi – The U.S. is set to win some big-ticket defense equipment deals from India after the downselect of two of its fighters from the $11 billion competition to supply 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) to the Indian air force. Apparently in a bid to compensate for the MMRCA downselect, India, which is a strategic partner of the U.S., plans to award deals worth more than $10 billion for combat, military transport and reconnaissance aircraft.

India’s business aircraft operators recently formed a new organization, the Business Aircraft Operators’ Association (BAOA), to position the industry for what they believe will be exponential growth over the next decade. “The business aviation industry is growing at an encouraging rate, and India is all set to be the third largest aviation market by 2020,” says Rohit Kapur, president of the new association and managing director of Arrow Aircraft, which sells Gulfstream aircraft in India.

NEW DELHI – The Indian army will soon receive 204 armored repair and recovery vehicles for revamping of its damaged T-72s — the Russian-made battle tanks used by the country’s armed forces, a defense ministry official says. The armored recovery vehicles (ARVs) will be built by the Bengaluru-based defense supplier Bharat Earth Movers under full technology transfer from Poland’s Bumar. A proposal was recently cleared by the federal Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the official says.