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Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force
(IAF) Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne formally
made this announcement at the 79th IAF Day celebrations
Oct 8 morning. A day before, Oct 7, the Defence
Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by the Defence
Minister, had cleared the decks after it was decided
that all the procedural steps had been completed
as due.
In his address at the annual ceremonial parade,
the Air Chief announced that the tender would
be opened within 10 days, and later told newsmen
that the winner could be announced as early as
November within a month of the tender opening.
“In the middle of November, we shall be able
to announce which plane we have selected,”
he said.
India had floated the tender for 126 Medium
Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA), with an option
for 63 more, in August 2007. The cost then was
estimated at US$ 10 billions approx (Rs 42,000
crores) for 126 aircraft inclusive of training,
spares, weapons and a support package for two
years.
The competition is between the EADS Cassidian-led
Eurofighter and French Dassaults’ Rafale
aircraft.
The tender opening will indicate the lower bid
for the aircraft, but it would take a month –
or even two – to determine the winner as
there are associated bids for options, lifetime
support of up to 40 years or 6000 hours of flight,
Transfer of Technology, periodic upgrades and
offsets etc.
Notably, over that period, the acquisition could
be worth around US$ 80 to 100 billion for the
winner even if many of the systems are made in
India as per the conditions laid out in the tender,
or Request for Proposals.
Air Chief Marshal Browne told India Strategic
in an interview that the agreement with the winner
could be signed within a couple of months after
the winner is declared.
It may be recalled that in a recent bid for nearly
100 engines for India’s Light Combat Aircraft
(LCA), European Eurojet had a lower bid compared
to that of the US GE but the latter won as it
was cheaper in the overall costing which included
tooling and support.
Four other contestants in the MMRCA fray, US
Lockheed martin’s F-16 Super Viper and Boeing’s
F/A-18 Super Hornet, Russian Mig 35, and Swedish
SAAB Gripen did not qualify in the comprehensive
flight and weapon tests although the IAF described
all of them as good aircraft. “It was a question
of scoring maximum points,” said one senior
IAF officer.
Interestingly, the France-based EADS (European
Aeronautic Defence & Space) has 46 per cent
stake each in both the Eurofighter and Dassault.
However, while EADS has a substantial manufacturing
stake in the Eurofighter, it has hardly any component
contribution in the Dassault Rafale.
Eurofighter Typhoon is made by EADS’s subsidiary
Cassidian, and the aircraft components and systems
are built by Germany, UK, Spain and Italy, the
four partners in the Eurofighter project.
Both the companies have promised to do full
Transfer of Technology (ToT) to India, and source
aircraft and other components later from Indian
companies as part of the offsets.
The winner will supply 18 aircraft in flyaway
condition within three years of the signing of
the contract and the rest would be progressively
made in India. The winner is free to choose private
or public sector companies for manufacturing various
aircraft components and systems but the overall
integration will be by the state-run HAL.
Among the key requirements are the Active Electronically
Scanned Array (AESA) combat radar, situational
awareness sensors, anti-radiation missiles, some
sophisticated Electronic Warfare (EW) systems
and 50 per cent offset. That means the winner
will have to invest equivalent to half the tendered
cost back in related defence industry in India.
Both Dassault and Eurofighter have already tied
MOUs with leading industrial houses to help create
the infrastructure required for MMRCA production
in India under the offset obligations.
Notably, IAF has a squadron strength of 34 at
present against the sanctioned number of 45. But
except for the 140 to 150 Su 30 MKIs – now
being built in the country under licence from
Russia – most of the others are vintage Soviet
Mig series. Three upgraded Mig 21s have in fact
crashed between Aug 1 and Oct 8.
IAF has already tied with Russia for a total
of 272 SU 30 MKI aircraft in batches over the
last 15 years.
IAF’s Mig 29s, and the French Mirage 2000,
particularly the latter, have a good record however
and both these aircraft are now being upgraded.
The Su 30 MKIs and MMRCAs are to replace a number
of squadrons currently equipped with the Soviet
origin aircraft, mostly the outdated Mig 21s.
The Mig 21 has been upgraded to Mig 21 bison
standard and given new cockpit gadgets. But admittedly,
they are too old without much heart and soul.
IAF is keenly awaiting the arrival of MMRCA,
whichever of the two is selected. The first batch
should arrive in 2015 if the agreement with the
winner is signed within the current fiscal ending
March 2012.
Air Chief Marshal Browne told India Strategic
in an interview that he had met with Finance Minister
Pranab Mukherjee recently and was assured that
the Government understood the urgency of inducting
new aircraft and other assets towards IAF modernization
and adequate funds would be made available.
The Ministry of Defence has already approved
comprehensive modernization of the Indian Air
Force
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