Stuck for almost a year, the Indian Air force's programme to acquire 114 fighter jets will get a new lease of life in the coming months. A total of six global firms have submitted their proposals.
In April last year, the Air force came out with a Request for Information (RFI), seeking response for its global hunt for 114 fighter jets on the backdrop of depleting combat strength. At present, IAF has 32 combat squadrons, but they will need at least 42 to handle a two-front war scenario.
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Although the process commenced last year, the finalisation of contract will be done only by 2022. According to informed sources, the Air Force is finalising its operational requirements (Aerospace Supplier Quality System Requirements) for 114 jets, and the process is believed to have reached the final stage. After that, the IAF will issue an Expression of Interest (EoI) to the firms that have submitted their proposals.
"We expect the EoIs to be sent to the firms by July. After that, the Request for Proposals (RFP) will be issued, which will have the detailed specifications of the aircraft," said an insider who is privy to the development. With the RFP, the race will formally begin. According to the contract, 18 aircrafts will be delivered off the shelf and the remaining 96 will be built in India under the strategic partnership model of the Make in India theme.
According to official sources, six firms have responded to the IAF's request. Dassault Aviation, makers of Rafale; Airbus, with its Eurofighter; Saab, and its Gripen E; Boeing, with F/A 18; Lockheed Martin, with F16 (now changed it to F21), and Russia, with MiG 35, have all pitched their aircrafts. Now, based on the responses from these companies, and the IAF's technical requirement, the force will prepare the Request for Proposal (RFP) that will formally begin the global race. This process will take at least four to six months, according to officials.
The IAF is seeking to acquire 114 fighter jets, of which 85 per cent are to be built in India, with a domestic strategic partner or production agency. RFI also stipulates that 75 per cent of the fighters are single-seat jets. However, the IAF did not clarify whether they are looking for single engine or twin engine jets.
The world's fourth largest air force, which had 42 squadrons of fighter jets in 2002, will be down to 28 by 2020 and, further to 19 by 2042, if the government does not take speedy action, according to an IAF internal estimate.
However, multiple efforts are being planned by the force to meet its operational requirements. Apart from the 36 Rafale jets from France and 40 LCA Tejas jets, IAF has also ordered the procurement of 83 additional LCA Mk-IIs, which will be equipped with more lethal avionics and weaponry. In between, the Air Force is also upgrading its existing fleet of Mirage-2000s, MiG-29s and Jaguars to keep them contemporary, and to increase their operational capabilities.
Last year, IAF had withdrawn its two-year-old project, which was dubbed the country's biggest Make in India programme—the manufacture of 114 single-engine fighter jets. In anticipation, two major aviation giants had already announced their collaboration with Indian firms to express their intentions to set up production line in India.
