India’s MRCA To Be Known By Month End

[keysersoze]

India Goes Full Steam to Finalize Fighter Aircraft Deal

By Times of India on Tuesday, May 24th, 2011




Rejecting the carping by those ejected out of the hotly-contested $10.4 billion MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) race, most notably the US, India is going full throttle to ink the "mother of all defence deals'' by December.

The aim is to ensure that deliveries of the 126 fighters begin from December 2014 onwards to stem IAF's fast-eroding combat edge. Top defence sources, in fact, said plans were afoot to base the first MMRCA squadron in the western sector, most probably at Ambala, by end-2015.

The first 18 jets will come in "fly-away condition" from the aviation major -- only Eurofighter Typhoon (EADS) and French Rafale (Dassault) are now left in contention -- finally selected for the project.

Subsequent batches of the 108 fighters, to be manufactured in India by Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) after transfer of technology, will progressively be based in other operationally relevant locations, with special focus on the eastern front with China.

"The first fighter built in HAL should roll out in December 2016. Thereafter, HAL will deliver six jets per year, which will go up to 20 per year later. HAL will achieve 85% technology absorption by the end,'' said a source.

With plans clearly chalked out, MoD ruled out any scope for comebacks by the eliminated four fighters -- American F/A-18 'Super Hornet' (Boeing) and F-16 'Super Viper' (Lockheed Martin), Swedish Gripen (Saab), and Russian MiG-35 (United Aircraft Corporation).

With only Typhoon and Rafale left in the reckoning after the "gruelling and transparent'' technical and flying evaluation, MoD's Technical Oversight Committee (TOC) and Technical Offsets Evaluation Committee (TOEC) are now working to submit their reports soon.

"We should be ready to open the Typhoon and Rafale commercial bids in July,'' said the source. Thereafter, it will take another month to determine the lowest bidder (L-1) because of "huge mathematical and data verification'' of the lifecycle costs of operating the jets over a 40-year period. Commercial negotiations with the L-1 vendor will then begin before the final contract is ready for signing by December.

Asked about "points'' being raised by eliminated vendors, sources said only Rafale and Typhoon were found "compliant'' on all the 643-660 technical attributes or ASQRs (air staff qualitative requirements) laid down to meet IAF's specific operational requirements.

"Our test pilots flew 222 sorties, over 270 hours, on the six fighters in different weather conditions in India and abroad. Each vendor was informed of its jet's performance at every stage... they have no reason to complain,'' the source said.

But what about the crucial AESA (active electronically scanned array) radar, which is operational only on American fighters at present? MoD said the ASQRs did "not require a flying AESA radar''. Instead, vendors had to demonstrate "a baseline radar model in flight or on a test-bed, the complete working model in a lab and how it would be integrated'' on the Indian MMRCA. "Five fighters, including Rafale and Typhoon, met this requirement,'' said the source.

Overall, MoD and IAF are confident there are "enough safeguards'' built into the project, which include "performance-based logistics'' to ensure India "gets the best machine, spares and product support''.

Read more: India Goes Full Steam to Finalize Fighter Aircraft Deal | Air Force News at DefenseTalk


The above article is interesting for a number of reasons. 1.It seems to give a date of 2015 for the first aircraft to be flying 2. The only manufacturer with that timeframe would appear to be Eurofighter

[keysersoze]

Been away for a few months....anyone know if a decision has been made yet?

[Neo]

Not yet, but is's almost certain that Eurofighter will win the order.

[keysersoze]

Apparently not........

India picks French jet over Eurofighter in $10bn deal

French firm Dassault has emerged as the lowest bidder for a $10bn (£6.3bn) contract to supply India jet fighters.

Dassault Aviation, as preferred bidder, will now enter final talks before signing a deal that will supply India's air force with 126 Rafale aircraft.

Correspondents say this is one of the world's biggest defence deals and is a major setback for rival bidder, the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Eurofighter lost out in December on an $8bn deal to supply jets to Japan.

Shares in Dassault Aviation rocketed more than 20% as the latest news broke.
'Purely cost'

The Typhoon is built by the German and Spanish branches of European aerospace giant EADS, Britain's BAE Systems and Italy's Finmeccanica.

Officials at the British High Commission in Delhi said they were disappointed with the decision and would now study the details.

"It was expressly said this was about the cost of the contract, not a reflection on the health of bilateral relations between India and the countries," the commission said.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

Both Germany and the UK invested a lot of time in pushing the Typhoon, so this will hurt”

James Hardy IHS Jane's Defence Weekly

A spokesman for the Eurofighter Typhoon consortium told the BBC they were disappointed, but stressed that the decision was not final and negotiations were still going on.

"However, we respect the decision of the Indian MoD. With the Eurofighter Typhoon, we offered the Indian Air Force the most modern combat aircraft available," he said.

"Based on the Indian government feedback, we will now carefully analyse and evaluate this situation together with our European partner companies and their respective governments."

BBC defence and diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says the Indian air force is going through an unprecedented period of modernisation; a response in part to China's developing air power.
RAF Eurofighter Typhoon, file pic Analysts say the Typhoon was widely tipped to be the successful bid

Four other bidders had dropped out in the lengthy Indian selection process.

He says various reasons were in play in the Indian decision, including diversifying from Russian hardware and contractual problems with other bidders.

French Minister of State for Foreign Trade Pierre Lellouche welcomed the deal, the first foreign order for the Rafale multi-role jet.

He said: "This is good news and France needs good news right now... It is good news for our aerospace industry and for our defence industry."

Mr Lellouche also complained that "political pressure applied by our competitors does not make things very easy".

James Hardy, Asia Pacific specialist at IHS Jane's Defence Weekly, said this was a "big loss for Eurofighter".

"The Typhoon was widely tipped to be the favourite and had major political support from the big beasts of the Eurofighter nations. Both Germany and the UK invested a lot of time in pushing the Typhoon, so this will hurt."

Indian Defence Minister AK Antony had earlier cautioned that this remained a "long process" and that no deal would be signed before the end of March.

One Indian defence ministry source confirmed to Reuters that the Rafale had been "much cheaper unit-wise", adding: "Moreover, the Indian air force, which is well-equipped with French fighters, is favouring the French."

India is the biggest arms importer among emerging nations.

[keysersoze]

Interesting that the actual deal won't be signed till March.

Which probably means July/August

[vinod2070]

Originally Posted by Neo

Not yet, but is's almost certain that Eurofighter will win the order.

Not so quick! ;)

[keysersoze]

Cameron promises to persuade India to buy Eurofighter
The Eurofighter Typhoon The Eurofighter is built by Germany, Spain, Britain and Italy




The prime minister says he will do all he can to convince India's government to order British jets after it emerged a major order may go to France instead.

While no deal has yet been agreed, Dassault's Rafale jets have been named as a preferred option, rather than the British-built Eurofighter Typhoon.

"The decision is obviously disappointing," David Cameron told MPs.

"I will do everything I can, as I have already, to encourage the Indians to look at Typhoon."

BAE Systems is one of the companies which stands to benefit if the Indian government chooses the Typhoon, as it would be involved in assembling 126 jets.

Mr Cameron said he did not expect any job losses to result from the decision, and that the Typhoon had not been ruled out as a purchase option.

BAE remains upbeat and says it is "far from a done deal" that Dassault will win the contract.

"Our partner, Cassidian, submitted an attractive and competitive proposal to supply Eurofighter Typhoon, the world's most modern medium multi-role combat aircraft available today," said a company spokesman.

"We believe Eurofighter Typhoon offers the best military, industrial and economic solution for India.

"We will continue to support the Indian customer and its evaluation process and work with our European partner companies and their respective governments to seek to understand the basis of the announcement."

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However Indian Defence Minister Mr. A.K. Anthony told reporters that this deal would not be signed in the current financial year (April 2011 to March 2012)

"Not this financial year"
-- Defence Minister A.K. Antony replying to Reuters