India has received from the US a Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) for the supply of 22 Harpoon missiles for the Navy. According to sources, though the Navy requires 12 Harpoons, no contract has been signed as yet.“The governments are inte-racting as it is a foreign military sale,” said the sources.
India is set to purchase the missile system under a $200-million military sale recently approved by the US State Department.The purchase is awaiting New Delhi’s nod. Boeing and Virginia-based Delex Systems are the primary contractors.India wants the missile system for the German-made Shishumar class submarines. Acquired in the mid-1980s, an upgrade is expected to extend their life by 10 years, the sources said.
India has already bought the missiles for its fleet of P-8I patrol aircraft and Jaguar ground attack planes. The Air Force has begun testing the missile. While Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is integrating the Harpoons onto the Jaguars, Boeing is doing it for the P-8Is. The Harpoon’s 500-pound blast warhead can be lethal against a variety of land-based targets.
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