New Delhi . The Indian Air Force has been trying to add new mid-air refueling planes to its strength for a long time. Now it can enter into an agreement worth about Rs 8000 crore for the purchase of six aerial tanker aircraft from a company owned by the Israeli government. Defense sources told news agency media that if Israeli company Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) gets this contract, it will modify six old and second-hand Boeing-767 commercial aircraft and convert them into tanker aircraft and then hand them over to the Indian Air Force.

According to sources, IAI has single-handedly won the competitive bidding, where it has accepted the demand for about 30 per cent of Indian made content through offsets included in the deal. He said that this competition started a few years ago, in which Russian and European companies also participated, but only IAI survived in the end. Other companies could not meet the required conditions, including the obligation of 3-30 per cent indigenous content in second-hand aircraft.

The Indian Air Force currently operates six Russian-origin IL-78 mid-air refueling aircraft based at Agra to support the operations of all types of fighter aircraft of the Air Force and Navy. Over the last 15 years, the Air Force made several attempts to procure six additional refueling aircraft, but did not succeed due to various reasons.

It recently leased one tanker aircraft, but will need more aircraft to meet its growing demands. The Air Force is phasing out older planes, and its new fleet will be able to fly long distances by refueling in the air.