European consortium Eurofighter expects the global combat aircraft export market to reach 800 units in 20 years, and it expects to deliver 250 of those planes, a senior executive said on Thursday.

Eurofighter, a four-nation consortium of EADS , representing Germany and Spain, Britain's BAE Systems and Italy's Finmeccanica , is in the race for an $11 billion Indian contract for 126 fighter jets, one of the largest export orders in the history of defense.

It is competing with Saab's JAS-39 Gripen, Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet, Dassault's Rafale, Lockheed's F-16 and Russia's MiG-35 to win the fighter contract.

India and other nations in Asia are important markets for combat aircraft, Enzo Casolini, chief executive of Eurofighter, said in a statement issued at India's biennial air show.

All nations are watching closely how India is running this tough competition and will evaluate the final result in every detail, he said.

(Reporting by Bharghavi Nagaraju; Writing by Jui Chakravorty; Editing by Aradhana Aravindan)

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