US$ 1.5 Billion Upgrades For 30 Indian Air Force Military Bases

India, which is planning a $1.5 billion upgrade for its 30 military airports and their air traffic control systems, issued a request for bids in January, a senior Indian Defence Ministry official said.
The Air Force is also buying air defense gear, a senior service official said. He gave no details about the equipment sought but said the Air Force likely will spend more than $1 billion on it.
Invited to bid on the project’s first phase were Italy’s Selex, France’s Thales, the U.S.’s Lockheed Martin, Germany’s Siemens, Britain’s Terma, and India Tata Power and Mumbai-based NELCO. That phase will include the supply, installation, testing and integration of equipment subsystems.
The effort is part of India plan to increase troops mobility in conformity with the latest military doctrine, which stipulates that future wars will be fast, lethal and shorter.
Last month, the Indian government approved the purchase of six U.S. C-130J airlifters to speedily move troops.
The airfields include Adampur, AFA, Agra, Ambala, Bagdogra, Bareilly, Bhatinda, Bhuj, Bidar, Chabua, Chandigarh, Gorakhpur, Gwalior, Halwara, Hasimara, Hindon, Jaisalmer, Jamnagar, Jodhpur, Jorhat, KKD, Nal, Naliya, Pathankot, Pune, Sirsa, Suratgarh, Tezpur, Uttarlai and Yelahanka.
Bidders must include offsets worth 30 percent of their bid, and must agree to complete the work within 3½ years of contract signature. One airfield will become a model airbase and test bed, the official said. Each airfield must receive new lighting, automated air traffic control management system, instrument landing system, distance measuring equipment and a Doppler very-high-frequency omni-range navigation system that works up to 15,000 feet. The winning bidder must also supply six mobile airfield lighting systems to fill in when airfield lights fail, one mobile air traffic control system, and facilities to train people to run and fix the systems.
The automated air traffic control system must operate around the clock, 365 days a year, with lights that have a minimum life of 15 years and operate from zero to 50 degrees Celsius. All equipment should be able to operate on AC power from 160 volts to 260 volts.
The usual “30% industrial offsets” rule applies to foreign bidders