India said mulling missile-shield work with U.S.

By Jim Wolf

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp, the Pentagon's No. 1 supplier, has been told India may be ready to look into possible U.S.-Indian collaboration on ballistic missile defense, a top company official said Wednesday.

"I would not be surprised if over the next couple of months we begin to have some exploratory discussions with various members of the government and with Indian industry," Richard Kirkland, Lockheed Martin's top executive on South Asia, said in a telephone interview with Reuters.

Indian missile-defense cooperation with the United States could complicate relations with China, Russia and Pakistan.

Until now, India's policy has been to develop its missile shield domestically, closing a potential multibillion-dollar market to Boeing Co, Lockheed, Raytheon Co and Northrop Grumman Corp -- the biggest players in the emerging ground, air, sea and space based U.S. missile defense system.

But this may be changing in line with a "watershed" Indian decision made formal last week to buy Lockheed's C-130J military transport aircraft, Kirkland said in a telephone interview.

India signed a deal with the United States on January 31 to buy six C-130Js worth about $1 billion, a shift from its previous heavy reliance on Russian transport planes.

"This kind of puts us in a new environment," James Clad, deputy assistant U.S. secretary of defense for South and Southeast Asia, said in an interview Tuesday of the C-130J deal. "With this sale, India is telling us it's ready to buy top-quality U.S. equipment on its merits."

More than 50 U.S. companies doing defense-related work are now represented in India, which is shaping up to be one of the world's biggest arms importers, Clad said.