Friday, October 5, 2012

Exclusive! C-130J WST delivered to IAF

Neelam Mathews
Oct 5, 2012
The much talked about and discussed C-130J Weapons System Trainer (WST) has arrived, Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne confirmed to Aerospace Diary today.
A Lockheed Martin official had confirmed to us during a recent trip to the US that the simulator would be in India by the end of the year. 
The WST will be placed in Hindon airbase where a MiG-21 simulator exists that is being moved away.

There has been criticism in the past regarding the exclusion of the WST as part of the offsets. According to an article in 2010, “Had the WST been part of the C-130J contract, Lockheed Martin would have been liable - in accordance with Defense Offset Policy, to pay 30 percent of the cost of the simulator as offset.
This is brushed away by a former IAF official who says: “Who would have thought in bygone days of needing a simulator for training for a transport aircraft? Things have changed with hi-technology now….It was an honest mistake.” 
Aerospace Diary learns the cost of a simulator is approximately 30% of the airframe minus the power plant.

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