5 in fray for IAF’s $10-bn deal for 126 aircraft

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New Delhi: The most eagerly anticipated contest for Indian Air Force’s medium multirole combat aircraft (MMRCA) requirement for at least 126 aircraft has taken off with the technical evaluation committee (TEC) in the Air Headquarters having sent evaluation report to the ministry of defence.

Now, out of six only five contenders which last year responded to the two-part bid for the $ 10-billion deal, will go for the field trials, as one of the bidders has failed to meet the technology specifications mentioned in the request for proposal (RFP) for the 126 fighters for IAF.

According to sources, based on the recommendations made by the TEC, after examining the technical bids, the Swedish “JAS 39 Gripen” has failed to make grade on the technology front for the deal. “The recommendations were made last week and now the ministry of defence has to take a final decision on this,” sources explained.

“The five bidders, including Boeing’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Dassault’s Rafale, Eurofighter’s Typhoon, Lockheed Martin’s F-16, Russian Aircraft Corporation’s (RAC’s) MiG with the MiG-35, are now expected to participate in the field trials that will start in a couple of months,” said sources.

Apart from technical reasons, India also needs to balance its strategic interests well. The order is one of the largest global tender for defence aircraft at present. Government spokesman Sitanshu Kar said it wanted to make sure there was “maximum competition till the last stage… Also, our objective is to get the best equipment and platforms at the best price.”

While India continues to have a close relationship with Dassault, which supplied the IAF with Mirage 2000 fighters in the 1980s, the Rafale of Dassault and the Typhoon from Eurofighter could likely struggle with the issue of cost. Both are relatively large, twin-engined platforms, which will significantly increase operating costs compared with the single-engined MiG-21 fleet it will replace.

The technological excellence of a modern MMRCA like the Eurofighter or the Rafale lies not in its airframe, engines, or flying performance, say experts. Instead, it has an advantage in avionics and in its net-centric capability, whereby the aircraft and its pilot are seamlessly integrated into an electronic battlefield management system.