China wants to bid for the contract to build the next US presidential helicopter, and build a brand for its defence industry in the process.
State-run aviation giant the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), is teaming up with a small, struggling American defence contractor to prepare bids for two US military contracts, including one to replace the ageing presidential helicopter fleet Marine One, a person familiar with the deal said.
No final decision has been made yet, and AVIC and its partner, US Aerospace, still have to iron out their co-operation agreements before they can go ahead with the plan.
Even if they decide to proceed with the bidding, Chinese observers say they are highly unlikely to win the contracts. They suspect the move is more about burnishing the image of China's defence industry in the international arms market.
State media outlets have already begun touting its significance as a symbol of China's emergence as a global player in the high-end military arms industry.
In an interview in the state-run Global Times, Chen Hu, editor-in-chief of the Beijing-based World Military Affairs magazine, said AVIC's potential bid was an indication of Chinese military industrial enterprises' 'great strides in technology and production capacity'.
And, speaking in terms that will no doubt feed directly into America's fears about military outsourcing, Chen said: 'AVIC will benefit from the co-operation if they win the bid, since the company has to update its original technologies to produce helicopters that meet US civil aviation technology standards.'
