Dogfight Over The Ocean

Noticing serious serviceability issues with the Russian MiG-29Ks, the original choice, along with the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), as the multi-role combat aircraft for the current Indian aircraft carrier Vikramaditya and the first indigenous aircraft carrier Vikrant, the Indian Navy has released a detailed Request for Information for procurement of 57 Multi-Role Carrier Borne Fighters (MRCBF). Boeing and Dassault Aviation are in the fray with the F/A-18 Super Hornet Block II and Rafale, respectively. Geopolitics Bureau examines the issue.

It has been a year since the Indian Navy issued a request for information (RFI) for procurement of 57 Multi-Role Carrier Borne Fighters (MRCBF), following a delay in the development of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Navy. The Navy requirement is the world’s largest tender for procurement of a carrier borne strike fighter and has two contenders: Boeing’s F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet and Dassault Aviation’s Rafale Marine. While the Rafale Marine has only one operator, which is the French Navy, the Super Hornet has two operators, the US Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

To many observers, the requirement for a new carrier fighter type was a surprise as the Indian Naval Aviation operates 45 MiG-29K (single-seat) and MiG29KUB (twin-seat) for which a substantial amount of operating infrastructure has been set up and a training pipeline has been put into place. Despite the Navy playing a key role in the development of the MiG-29K and funding it to boot, if it now needs different products, it implies that it faced poor product support from the manufacturer. In other words, teething developmental issues took much longer to rectify than anticipated. It may be noted that 45 aircraft were ordered from Russia by India which was the launch customer for the aircraft, with orders being placed in 2004 and 2010 for 16 and 29 aircraft, respectively. Deliveries of all the 45 aircraft have been completed.