Nod for MRMR aircraft

The government has finally approved the proposal from the Navy to acquire nine advanced medium range maritime reconnaissance (MRMR) aircraft, which will cost upwards of $1 billion. These MRMR planes will be in addition to the 12 longrange (LRMR) aircraft already being acquired for the Navy at a $3.1 billion price tag. After first inking the $2.1 billion contract in 2009 for eight Boeing-manufactured P-8I LRMR aircraft, to be inducted in the 2013-2015 timeframe, the defence ministry is now finalizing the follow-on deal for four more such planes. The MRMR project got the “acceptance of necessity’’ from the Defence Acquisitions Council, chaired by A K Antony, last week, sources said. Several global aviation majors, ranging from American Boeing and Lockheed Martin to Swedish SAAB, French Dassault Aviation, Brazilian Embraer and European EADS are in contention for this big contract. The radar-packed MRMR planes, much like the LRMR ones, will be armed with missiles, rockets and torpedoes for potent anti-warship and anti-submarine warfare. With an operating range of over 350 nautical miles, the multi-mission MRMR planes will be Navy’s “intelligent eyes and ears’’ over Indian Ocean in the medium range.