Six bids to supply 110 fighters for IAF

Six bids to supply 110 fighters for IAF

News:

1. Six global aircraft manufacturers have responded to a Request for Information (RFI) from the Indian Air Force to supply 110 fighter aircraft.

Important facts:

2. The deadline for the RFI was July 6.

3. All six manufacturers have earlier bid for the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA), which was cancelled in 2015.

4. F-16, Gripen, Boeing F-18, Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon and MiG-35 enter the contest.

5. Lockheed Martin F-16 and SAAB Gripen are single-engine fighters, while Boeing F-18, Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon and United Aircraft Corporation MiG35 are twin-engine ones.

6. The bids will be evaluated after which the IAF will issue the Request For Proposal(RFP) with the exact specifications of the aircraft to be procured.

7. The RFP is expected by next year.

8. The RFI was issued recently, states that the government plans to buy 110 fighters jet, of which 85% will have to be built in India under the ‘Make in India’ programme in partnership with a “Strategic Partner/ Indian Production Agency.”

9. The procurement will be processed through the Strategic Partnership (SP) model under the Defence Procurement Procedure.

10. Earlier, the IAF was looking for a single-engine jet to replace the MiG-21s and MiG 27s , but the RFI did not specify it , opening up the contest to both single and twin engine jets.

11. Final choice would depend on the price and extent of technology transfer.

12. Single-engine aircraft will cost lower than the twin-engine jets , both in unit and operational costs.

13. The move comes two decades after the IAF began the last major efforts to acquire fighters in large numbers.

14. The effort culminated in the global tender for 126 fighters under the MMRCA deal which was cancelled in 2015 after the government decided to buy 36 Rafale fighters from France under a government-to- government deal.