NEW DELHI. The Indian Air Force (IAF) is finally set to issue a Request for Information (RFI) to the US Lockheed Martin for F-16 and to Swedish Saab for Gripen for acquiring 114 single engine combat aircraft.
In an interview with India Strategic, and at a press briefing, Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa said that the RFI should be out within October, and that he expected the capabilities of the aircraft being offered now to be better than those in the 2007 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contest. “The procurement is envisaged under the Fighter Aircraft Segment of the Strategic Partnership Model (Chapter VII) of the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP).
Under this, IAF will acquire 18 aircraft in flyaway condition and the remaining 96 will be progressively manufactured under the Prime Minister’s Make in India programme.
Notably, Lockheed Martin has tied up on its own with Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) and so has Saab with the Adani Group. After either or both are selected on technical parameters in flight trials, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) will approve the winner on the basis of commercial terms and how much Transfer of Technology (ToT) in sophisticated equipment accrues to India.
According to IAF Deputy Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal R Nambiar, IAF expected the two companies to respond to the RFI in about three months, the flight trials should take about a year, the contract should be signed shortly thereafter, and the process should wrap up with deliveries of the first lot of flyaway aircraft in less than five years as of now.
As the two companies have already tied up with their Indian partners, the process to set up the factory for the selected aircraft should begin soon after the winner is announced, and just as the winner completes the delivery of the flyaway aircraft, its production in India should also begin simultaneously.
Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa said that IAF was indeed short of combat aircraft, but that the number of squadrons should reach from the present 33 to the required 42 by 2032.
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