<p>A formal letter of request to buy the heavy lift transport aircraft, was issued to the US government on January 1, Defence Minister A K Antony said in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. <br /><br /> The aircraft that can carry 75 tonnes of load will be purchased through the foreign military sales (FMS) route.<br /><br />New Delhi is increasingly preferring the FMS route rather than going through the tendering process because even if the FMS route is 2 per cent costlier, there is no other hassles in the acquisition process, which in turn contribute to speedy modernisation of the armed forces. <br /><br />The onus to provide a quality product and steady maintenance support is on the government where the selling company is located. In this case, it is the US responsibility for the C-17 is a Boeing product, .<br /><br />The deal was approved by the Defence Acquisition Council on October 19. Incidentally, on the same day, a C-17 from the US Air Force participated in an air exercise with the IAF in Agra to improve the level of inter-operability in transport flying.</p>
<p>A formal letter of request to buy the heavy lift transport aircraft, was issued to the US government on January 1, Defence Minister A K Antony said in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. <br /><br /> The aircraft that can carry 75 tonnes of load will be purchased through the foreign military sales (FMS) route.<br /><br />New Delhi is increasingly preferring the FMS route rather than going through the tendering process because even if the FMS route is 2 per cent costlier, there is no other hassles in the acquisition process, which in turn contribute to speedy modernisation of the armed forces. <br /><br />The onus to provide a quality product and steady maintenance support is on the government where the selling company is located. In this case, it is the US responsibility for the C-17 is a Boeing product, .<br /><br />The deal was approved by the Defence Acquisition Council on October 19. Incidentally, on the same day, a C-17 from the US Air Force participated in an air exercise with the IAF in Agra to improve the level of inter-operability in transport flying.</p>
