After months of negotiation, India and the United States are nearing completion of a roughly $3.5-billion defense deal that includes the purchase of at least 10 Boeing C-17s.
First proposed in January, the deal would be a major boost to the C-17 plant in Long Beach, where about 5,000 are employed building, engineering, repairing, selling and marketing the giant cargo jet. Under long-standing U.S. military export laws, the deal requires congressional approval.
Production of India’s planes could keep the Long Beach plant open at least a year beyond the now-scheduled closing in early 2013. More international orders could push production beyond mid-decade.
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