23.5.11

IAF's $10.4bn jet deal

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 the end of 2015. The first 18 jets will come in “fly-away condition” from the aviation major finally selected for the project. Only Eurofighter Typhoon (EADS) and French Rafale (Dassault) are now left in contention. Subsequent batches of the 108 fighters, to be manufactured in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) after transfer of technology, will progressively be based in other operationally relevant locations, with special focus on 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 only Typhoon and Rafale left in the reckoning after the “gruelling and transparent” technical and flying evaluation, defence ministry’s Technical Oversight Committee and Technical Offsets Evaluation Committee 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 laid down to meet IAF’s specific operational requirements, adding that “test pilots flew over 270 hours in different weather conditions... so they have no reason to complain”.

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