Thursday, 02 September 2010
Written by Editor
New Delhi – India’s prestigious medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) deal, worth almost $11 billion, is making a slow progress since the contenders are yet to be shortlisted. At present, the Offset Technical Committee has the process of evaluating the offset proposals of the six contenders.
The Indian Defence Ministry will take the decision to shortlist the contenders only when the Offset Technical Committee’s report and the report on the field trials have been completed and submitted. Once the contenders receive the evaluation of the Offset technical Committee, the contenders for the MMRCA will give fresh offset proposals. After that, fresh recommendations will be sent to the Defence Ministry. Once the Cabinet Committee on Security gives the nod, negotiations between governments will begin.
Sources said that the six contenders are presently being invited to furnish their offset plans and the Indian Air Force (IAF) will meet different contenders to discuss flight evaluation reports once the field trials are complete.
Saturday, 14 August 2010
Written by Editor
[Stratpost]
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has submitted its report on the flight evaluation of the six aircraft competing to win the Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contest to the Ministry of Defense (MoD). The report, which has not been approved yet, will be subject to validation by the MoD’s Technical Oversight Committee (TOC), before the ministry clears the results of the report for further action.
Senior officers of the IAF said the report details the performance of the respective fighter aircraft on 643 parameters or Air Staff Qualitative Requirements (ASQR), with each aircraft being marked compliant or non-compliant with each parameter. IAF sources also indicated that the report submitted to the MoD does not go so far as to either rank the aircraft in the order of performance in flight trials or indicate the preference of the IAF for any particular aircraft. But it is understood that such results are for the MoD to derive from the report. Originally the IAF had devised 660 test points, which were edited to 643 to remove duplication and overlap.
Sunday, 08 August 2010
Written by Editor
[Stratpost]
Anytime now, the Indian Air Force (IAF) should be submitting its report on the technical evaluations of six aircraft for its 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) tender, indicating its assessment and by extension, preferences, after which the Ministry of Defense (MoD) will open the commercial bids submitted by the six vendors and list them in terms of the best prices offered.
But in this contest, the IAF has to make a comparison of the performances of single-engine aircraft, the Gripen and the F-16, with twin-engine fighters, the MiG-35, F/A-18 Super Hornet, Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon. Speculative noises over the past year have indicated it to be entirely possible for all these aircraft to make the cut as far as the parameters or Air Staff Qualitative Requirements (ASQRs) laid down by the IAF are concerned.
Indeed, the varied character of the six aircraft taking part in the competition, which also cleared the paper-evaluation of their respective technical abilities last year, indicates that possibly all six aircraft could match these parameters in different ways to, more or less, the same extent.
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Written by Blood Wizard
 [IANS] Swedish defence and security company Saab AB Monday announced the appointment of Inderjit Sial as country head of Saab International India AB. “In his new role, Sial, will be responsible for the marketing activities of Saab Group in India,” a company statement said. Sial takes on this position from Jan Widerstrom, who will be moving on to the role of Head-Asia Pacific Region, Saab AB.
Saturday, 27 March 2010
Written by Tusty
[AVIATION WEEK] As field trials for India’s 126-aircraft Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) draw to a close, vendors vying for the program could get the opportunity to revise their pricing. The Saab Gripen is completing its final field trials in Leh, while the Eurofighter is due to start weapons and other equipment tests as part of the third phase of trials in the U.K. and Germany next month. Those trials are scheduled to be completed on April 29.
Saturday, 27 March 2010
Written by Tusty
[TOI] While Pakistan may have pitched hard with the US for early transfer of F-16 fighter aircraft and other sophisticated military equipment, a concerned India is learnt to have raised the stakes by indicating to the US that such a transfer may not go down well at a time when two US companies are bidding for the 126 multi-role combat aircraft tender floated by India. This $10 billion-plus tender is considered one of the biggest international military contracts in the world now.
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
Written by Tusty
 [THE HINDU] Sweden’s Gripen NG, the last of the six fighter aircraft that are being evaluated by the Indian Air Force for the $12 billion medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) deal, left Bangalore on Monday morning for the Air Force Station (AFS) Jaisalmer. Having gone through a week of performance trials — including a demonstration of air-to-air refuelling and flying manoeuvres — by the IAF’s specifically designated MMRCA team here, two Gripens will now complete the remaining part of their flight tests over Pokhran and Leh before heading for the AFS Jamnagar and then to an air base in Sweden.
Tuesday, 09 March 2010
Written by Blood Wizard
[Flight International] Saab-led Gripen International has revived its war of words linked to the Norwegian defence ministry’s selection of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and rejection of its Gripen NG offering last November. The move comes as the next-generation version of the Swedish fighter is in the final phase of competitions in Brazil and Switzerland, and as Saab attempts to revive stalled procurement efforts in three eastern European states.
Thursday, 18 February 2010
Written by Blood Wizard
[AJAY SHUKLA] On Monday, two Eurofighter Typhoon fighters of the Luftwaffe —- the German Air Force —- took off from the Laage Air Base in Germany on probably the most important mission the plane has flown. After touching down in Bangalore today, they will prepare for flight trials by Indian Air Force pilots, which begin on Monday. The outcome of those trials in Bangalore, Jaisalmer, and then Leh, will be crucial in determining whether 126 Typhoons, and possibly more later, will sport the roundels of the IAF.
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