Indian Military

[Stratpost]

The process leading up to the decision by the Indian Ministry of Defense to issue invitations to eliminate four of the six companies in the contest to win the Indian Air Force (IAF) tender for 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) has large holes in its standard of diligence.

Only the the French Dassault’s Rafale and the European Eurofighter Typhoon were invited to extend their commercial bids, with the Russian MiG-35, the Swedish SAAB’s Gripen, Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet and Lockheed Martin’s F-16, all left out of the contest.

While much has been written about this decision, the news of which was first broken by StratPost, questions have surfaced in the subsequent two weeks, that show crucial gaps in the diligence of the process followed by the ministry. Many of the issues arising from these questions have been earlier reported and analyzed by StratPost.

The tender process entailed the examination of the aircraft on offer on three key aspects. Firstly, the IAF was required to conduct a technical evaluation of the six aircraft, the report for which it submitted after completion last July.

NEW DELHI: "Beg, borrow or steal", was the advice the Indian Air Force (IAF) chief, Air Chief Norman Anil Kumar Browne, had for defence scientists Wednesday for developing critical technologies for the armed forces.
Browne, who was delivering a lecture at an aerospace seminar organised by the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) here, was attempting to impress upon the defence scientists the need to develop an engine for indigenous fighter aircraft that has not happened for almost three decades.
"You may have to beg, borrow or steal. But you have to do it," Browne said to stress that there was an urgency in locally developing the indigenous aeroengine if India has to strengthen it defence capabilities.
India had tasked its Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) 22 years ago to develop an indigenous engine and till date has sanctioned a budget of Rs.2,893 crore (over $500 million) for its development.
Yet, the Kaveri engine programme, envisaged as the aeroengine for the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) is still to fructify and the LCA is fitted with the American GE engine.