U.S. companies eye $8 billion defense deals with India NEW DELHI (Reuters) - U.S. companies are poised to sign defense deals totaling $8 billion with India, the U.S. Ambassador Nancy Powell said on Friday. She did not specify a timeframe when the deals would be signed. India is one of the world's largest arms importers and plans to spend close to about $100 billion over the next 10 years to upgrade its largely Soviet-era equipment. U.S. companies like Boeing Co, Lockheed Martin Corp and Raytheon Co are some of the contractors looking to grab a share of India's planned military spending. Reporting by Frank Jack Daniel and Manoj Kumar