New Delhi, August 28, 2007(WAM): India released the much-awaited tender for 126 multi role combat aircraft (MRCA) to six manufacturers today.
The new aircrafts are estimated to cost around USD 10 billion, and their number could go up to around 200 later, jacking up the costs to around USD15 b.
The order is the biggest yet in this century, and according to Chief of Air Staff of the Indian Air Force (IAF), Air Chief Marshal F H Major, the requirement of the new aircraft is 'imminent' as most of its combat fleet is of Soviet vintage and 20 or more than 20 years old.
The 211-page tender has selectively been limited to US Boeing F 18 Lockheed Martin F 16, Swedish Gripen, European Consortium's Eurofighter, Russian Mig 35 and French Rafale. Their representatives were invited to the Ministry of Defence today and handed over the tender, technically called Request for Proposals (RfP) documents.
IAF will buy the first lot of 18 aircraft direct from the manufacturer while the remaining would be gradually assembled in India under a Transfer of Technology agreement..
There is a 50 per cent offset clause, under which the winning company will have to invest that much value of the contract in the defence sector in India towards building indigenous capability under Transfer of Technology (ToT( The offset clause is a recent innovation, initiated by former Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt while the Transfer of Technology in major deals was mandated by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the mid-1980s.
Sources told WAM that as far as the F 16 is concerned, only comparable models to its Block 60 version with Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar would be considered. Only the UAE Air Force F 16s, acquired from 2004, have this capability.
Terms of the tender are secret but sources said that the new aircraft have to be multi-role, that is capable of surface and maritime operations like reconnaissance, attack on hostile warships and midair refueling capable.
For the first time, private sector companies in India will be given a substantial role in defence equipment manufacture.
According to a survey published by the India Strategic defence magazine, India needs to invest USD 35 to 40 billion by 2025 on military aviation.
The Military Balance published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) , London says that India has about 800 combat jets. Of these, except for about 60 Su 30 MKIs acquired in the last few years from Russia, all are around 20 years old, or more than that.
