India issues EOI for Procurement of 111 Naval Utility Helicopters

India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has issued an Expression of Interest (EOI) for shortlisting of potential Indian Strategic Partners and foreign OEMs for the procurement of 111 Naval Utility Helicopters (NUH) for the Indian Navy. 95 helicopters out of 111 will be manufactured in India by the selected Indian Strategic Partner.

The RFP for procurement is likely to be issued towards the end of third quarter of this year to the shortlisted Indian companies.

These helicopters will replace Chetak Helicopters and will be utilised for Search and Rescue (SAR), Casualty evacuation (CASEVAC), low intensity maritime operations (LIMO), passenger roles and torpedo drops. The case was approved by Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) on 25 Aug 18.

The OEMs have been mandated to set up dedicated manufacturing line, including design, integration and manufacturing processes for NUH in India and make Indian Manufacturing Line a global exclusive facility for the NUH platform being offered.

The Indian companies would be shortlisted based on their capability of system of system integration, facility in the aerospace domain and financial capability. Tata Advanced Systems Ltd, Mahindra Defence, Adani Defence, L&T, Bharat Forge and Reliance Infrastructure are the Indian companies that are likely to participate in the process.

The foreign OEMs likely to participate in the project are Lockheed Martin, Airbus Helicopters, Bell Helicopters and RoE.

The Request for EoI from Indian private companies for participating in the project has been hosted on the MoD and Indian Navy website while the Request for EoI from foreign OEMs has been forwarded to companies that participated in the RFI deliberations. The Indian companies have been given two months to respond to the EoI, while the foreign OEMs have been given three months for responding due to the nature of inputs required.