NEW DELHI — The U.S. Ambassador to India is hailing India’s decision to buy 10 Boeing C-17 aircraft for $4.1 billion, saying the procurement will would boost ties between the countries and sustain 23,000 American jobs. “This sale captures the mutual benefits of the U.S.-India global partnership. For India, the sale adds strategic and humanitarian muscle to its defense needs,” outgoing U.S. Ambassador Timothy Roemer said in a statement last week.

NEW DELHI — Indo-Russian joint venture BrahMos Aerospace expects to start developing a new hypersonic missile, the BrahMos-2, this year. Also, tests for the air-launched version of the existing BrahMos supersonic cruise missile are scheduled to begin next year. “We expect to be able to start the tests of BrahMos missiles launched from aircraft. Various types of aircraft, including Su-30 MKI fighters, are expected to be armed with these missiles,” says BrahMos Aerospace Director Alexander Maksichev.

India will soon begin designing and developing a national civil aircraft for providing connections between the country's smaller cities and major metropolitan areas. The National Aeronautics Laboratory (NAL) has been entrusted with the project, says Ashwani Kumar, federal junior minister for science and technology.