IAF’s mega $20 billion Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) programme is nowhere in sight. Against the fast-depleting squadron of the Indian Air Force (IAF), the MRFA programme which is about acquiring 114 Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft, is one such programme that the Indian Armed Forces and the Government are treating as important.
There are multiple projects underway in India’s aerospace ecosystem. India’s public sector defence undertaking, Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) along with Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) is working together to build Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).
Tejas MK2 is another ambitious project which is evolving out of HAL’s Tejas fighter aircraft design. Tejas MK2 is building upon Mark 1A. The improvement is significant in terms of the engine and firepower with multi-role advanced functional capabilities. For Tejas Mk2, the Ministry of Defence has shown a willingness to speed up the process from design to prototype development, boosting its export potential in the global jet market.
LCA Mk2 Project Director at ADA, V Madhusudana Rao outlined the sped-up process: “There is a huge push from the central government on increasing the production rate of aircraft with India already getting inquiries about the aircraft from 16 countries.” Besides, the Cabinet Committee on Security has already approved the Tejas Mk2 programme at a total cost of around Rs 9,000 crore which might increase during the course of development.
More so, there are clusters of other projects underway – some of them at the concept stage to design like the twin-engine deck-based fighter (TEDBF) for the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, the LCA Naval (LCAN) and the Omni Role Combat Aircraft (ORCA).
While the DRDO and HAL are working on unmanned-based futuristic aerial systems and aircraft which include the Stealth Wing Flying Testbed (SWiFT) and the Combat Air Teaming System (CATS) Warrior.
In the plethora of such big-ticket indigenous programmes, the MRFA seems to have lost its proposition after more than two decades of trials and tribulations.
Dragging and delaying MRFA
The IAF first floated the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) tender to procure 126 new combat jets from foreign OEMs in 2007. Once the MMRCA was scrapped, India managed to fill the void by ordering 36 Rafale aircraft for the IAF. So far, the status remains so.
While so many programmes are about taking a leap in India’s manufacturing technology, the focus for IAF remains on the need for next-generation tech-ready combat jets for potential future conflicts. Simply put, the IAF has to fulfil its mandate if such situations arise.
The IAF’s Perspective Plan looks at it in terms of its combat asset which is primarily about the number of fighter jets under the squadron. It is broadly defined as 42 squadrons. At present, IAF has 30 squadrons. Further, the IAF will phase out the remaining four MiG-21 squadrons by 2025, bringing the squadron strength to its lowest.
The advancement across the spectrum of aerospace is breaking boundaries in areas like stealth, speed, electronic and sensor suite and networked platforms on quantum combat cloud, teaming with unmanned aerial systems. Can India leverage such a complex web of next-generation technologies through the MRFA?
“No single country is able to achieve the entire gamut of technologies as such,” remarked a former fighter combat pilot, adding “the cost is also overwhelming.”
Besides the security dimension, the MRFA project worth $20 billion makes a compelling case for India in terms of the economy of scale.
Also, the key requirement of the MRFA is that foreign companies partner with local companies to manufacture combat jets, systems, and components as well as their assembly and maintenance/servicing in India. India can also integrate domestically manufactured avionics and weapons systems; many such systems can be interrogated in futuristic AMCA and Tejas Mk2 as well.
Last year, Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari added the element of ‘make in India’ to the MRFA project. He suggested that the MRFA programme must embrace indigenisation.
The competition is intense with world-leading OEMs in the fray for the MRFA, including Lockheed Martin’s F-21, Boeing’s Super Hornet F/A-18 E/F, Dassault’s Rafale, Saab’s Gripen JAS-39 E/F, Russian MiG-35 and SU-35, and the European consortium led Eurofighter Typhoon.
The incessant delays are raising concerns about the viability of the MRFA project. Either the programme must take off or the Government must scrap it, experts summed up. For the moment, it is still the status quo.