BAE Systems today insisted it was confident of selling Hawk jets to India despite a report that negotiations faced collapse.
Today's Guardian newspaper said a £1bn deal for the sale of 66 jets appeared in trouble after suggestions that India had decided to buy a cheaper Russian aircraft.
According to sources in the Indian defence ministry, the government had virtually ruled out purchasing the advanced trainer jets, despite 16 years of negotiations, the newspaper said.
India had apparently decided that the price of £15m per plane was not acceptable, and several hundred jobs at the company's production line in Brough, East Yorkshire, were at risk, it added.
BAE Systems spokesman Mike Peters said: "We are still in detailed and close discussions with the Indian government. We are confident that we will go ahead with this sale to India."
Updated: 11:35 Thursday, August 09, 2001
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