New Delhi, April 27: Strange it seems but that's the way it is. When indian leaders, from both ruling and opposition parties, are finding it difficult to find answers for the plethora of scandals related to defence deals exposed in recent weeks, the US ambassador to India announced Friday that US firms will sign defence deals worth $8 billion with India.

In his public speech since arrival last month, Nancy Powell said, "We are poised to sign an additional $8 billion in direct commercial and foreign military sale," adding that as both the nations share common equipments, it will strengthen bilateral relation.

However, Powell does not specifically mention the names of companies that could sign supply deals and the timing. However, embassy official hinted that it could be Apache helicopter along with engine equipment for jets.

India, which plans to spend over $100 billion over the nest 10 years to upgrade its armory, is hunting ground for defence equipment manufacturers from across the globe. Boieng, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon are in race to grab some share of India's investment plan.

How fast the process would be, it can be easily guessed from the latest development in Indian politics, which is embroiled in mud slinging at the cost of defence preparedness, real or planted is tough to guess at this stage.