Boeing Bases Pitch for India Defense Contracts on Company's Size
- Dassault, Saab can't offer same scale, Boeing's Kohler says
- India should look to build commercial aviation platform first
French Rafale fighter. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi scaled back the deal with Dassault to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets off the shelf instead of building 126 in India after negotiations hit repeated delays.
Photographer: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Boeing Co. wants Prime Minister Narendra Modi to keep something in mind as he looks to turn India into a defense manufacturing powerhouse: Size matters.
With Modi planning to spend $150 billion to modernize military equipment over the next decade, the world’s largest aerospace company sees an opportunity to grow its presence in India. Boeing lost out in 2012 to smaller French rival Dassault Aviation SA in what was then the biggest fighter-jet deal on record.