IAF CHIEF: Air Marshal Arup Raha will be the next chief of the Indian air force (IAF), succeeding Air Chief Marshal Norman Anil Kumar Browne. Browne will retire Dec. 31 after a 41-year career. The new air chief has had the distinction of heading the IAF’s spearhead force, Western Air Command, and also Central Air Command. Raha was commissioned into the IAF on Dec. 14, 1974 as a combat pilot, flying MiG-21 and MiG-29 aircraft. During a career spanning nearly 39 years, Raha has held various command, staff and instructional appointments.

NEW DELHI — As India moves to cancel its scandal-tainted contract with AgustaWestland to supply AW101 helicopters, the company’s former rival in the tender, Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., is advancing an alternative. “If we are called upon as a sequel to the process, we will be more than willing to come forward and address the requirements,” says Arvind Jeet Singh Walia, Sikorsky’s regional executive for India and South Asia. India signed the 35.46 billion rupee ($720 million) contract with AgustaWestland in February 2010 to buy 12 AW101 helicopters.

Air India has issued a fresh global tender for the lease of 19 new Airbus A320 aircraft, after the financially troubled airline’s first bid in August failed to attract any lessors. “As part of its effort to reduce costs and optimize revenue, Air India intends to procure new A320s with Sharklet fuel-saving wing-tip devices, powered by CFM56-5B4/3 PIP engines, on dry lease for a lease period of maximum up to 12 years, up from the six-year lease period it planned in August,” an airline spokesman tells Aviation Week. The airline will accept bids until Nov. 19.