During President, Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh Exchange Toasts, they celebrated great friendship for two nations and President Bush offered toast to Prime Minister's gracious wife, and to the great people of India.

President George Bush stated that India and the United States are closer than ever before. President Bush also stated that "U.S. and India" two nations are bound by our common interests. Our trading partnership has grown dramatically in recent years, which brings greater prosperity and opportunity to citizens of both our countries. America and India also understand the danger of global terrorism, which has brought grief to our nations, and united us in our desire to bring peace and security to the world. (2)

Washington -- India has established a firm partnership with the United States based on democratic principles, economic cooperation and the fight against terrorism, said Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a speech at Washington’s National Press Club on July 20. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reflected stronger relationship on his meetings with President Bush and the U.S. Congress during his three-day visit to the United States.

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh discussed “the role India can play in strengthening global non-proliferation efforts,” as the country also seeks to build “access to energy resources.” He said the civilian nuclear energy programs were part of an effort to diversify away from dependence on hydrocarbons.

Turning to the topic of terrorism, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, “terrorism is a great threat to freedom and tolerance,” and “the United States is an important partner in combating global terror.” (1)

According to Seattle PI, NEW DELHI -- The Boeing Co. has joined the race to supply fighter jets to the Indian air force, a senior company official said yesterday, weeks after the United States and India signed a strategic defense pact. The Boeing Co. presented its latest multipurpose jet, the F/A-18 Super Hornet, to defense authorities in India this week.

Chris Chadwick, Boeing vice president for F/A-18 programs expressed that "We are pleased to have the opportunity to provide India with a premier aircraft that will help guarantee the security of India and its people,"

The Super Hornet is the Navy's newest strike fighter, a multiple combat plane that is capable of both dogfights and carrying out bombing missions. Air forces of seven countries, including Australia and Canada, use the Super Hornet. (5)

F/A18-Super Hornet Leading the 21st Century

Service	U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and the air forces of Canada, Australia, Spain, Kuwait, Finland, Switzerland, and Malaysia.
Maintenance	The Hornet was designed to be reliable and easily maintainable. These factors result in significantly lower operating and maintenance costs for the F/A-18 compared to other U.S. Navy fighter and attack aircraft; and life cycle costs comparable to other modern multi-role aircraft.
Survivability	The F/A-18 uses a variety of systems and technologies to increase its likelihood of reaching a target undetected, of escaping unhurt if detected, and of returning its crew safely if it is hit. These systems and technologies have been significantly enhanced in the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet to further improve survivability.
Leading Industry Team	The Boeing Company leads the nationwide industry team that built the F/A-18 Hornet. Boeing builds the forward fuselage and wings, and conducts final assembly.
Lenghth, Height, and Wing Span	56 ft (17.1 m), 15.3 ft (4.7 m) 40 ft (12.3 m)
Propulsion:	Enhanced Performance Engine (EPE): Two F404-GE-402 engines, each in the 18,000 pound thrust class. Combat thrust-to-weight ratio greater than one-to-one
Combat Radius:	500+ nm (900+ km)
Combat Ceiling:	Approximately 50,000 ft (15,250 m)
Armament:	Up to 13,700 pounds (6,227 kg) external ordnance. Nine weapon stations; two wingtip stations for Sidewinders, two outboard wing stations for air-to-air or air-to-ground weapons, two inboard wing stations for fuel tanks, air-to-air or air-to-ground weapons, two nacelle fuselage stations for AMRAAMs, Sparrows or sensor pods, and one centerline station for fuel or air-to-ground weapons. M61A1 20-mm gun internally mounted in the nose.
Crew: F/A-18C , F/A-18D	One pilot , One weapons and sensors officer (WSO)

The Hornet has an intercept radius of over 400 miles without external fuel tanks. In the air-to-ground role, the F/A-18C can attack targets over 550 miles away and deliver conventional bombs, precision munitions, air-to-surface missiles, cluster weapons and rockets, up to a 17,000 pound total payload, with deadly accuracy. As a fighter, the Hornet can carry a mixed load of the most capable air-to-air missiles. On all missions, the Hornet will employ the highly effective 20mm Gatling gun. With the high performance of a lightweight fighter combined with the "state-of-the-art" night attack, all weather weapon system, the Hornet is capable of finding and destroying land, sea, or air targets on the first pass, day or night.

The F/A-18C radar is the world's most advanced for a fighter aircraft. Two radars in one, the Hughes APG-73 has the ability to detect airborne targets at more than 100 miles, distinguish low-flying or slow-moving targets "on the deck," pinpoint ships at sea, map the contours of the ground, and track ground targets. F/A-18Cs have synthetic aperture ground mapping radar with a doppler beam sharpening mode to generate ground maps. This ground mapping capability that permits crews to locate and attack targets in adverse weather and poor visibility or to precisely update the aircraft's location relative to targets during the approach, a capability that improves bombing accuracy. New production F/A-18Cs received the APG-73 radar upgrade radars starting in 1994, providing more precise and clear radar displays. (3)

It is positive to see the Boeing company is willing to transfer technology and co-produce the planes in India, Chadwick said, and in teaming up for defense production and space research. "We have a lot of flexibility in terms of what we can offer to the Indian air force, subject to approval by the U.S. government," he said.

It is positive to see that India and the United States are closer relationship, U.S. continue to seek for global importances......and President Bush continue to Expending bilateral programs.

References:

1) http://usinfo.state.gov/sa/Archive/2005/Jul/22-845615.html

By Mercedes L. Suarez
Washington File Staff Writer

2) http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/07/20050718-12.html

3) http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/f-18.htm

4) http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/fa18/flash.html

5) http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/233729_boeingfytr23.html