NEW DELHI: The IAF will soon issue request for proposals (RFPs) to the five contenders in race to supply 126 multi-role combat aircraft to India, in a deal estimated to be upwards of $5-billion.
The companies vying to bag the lucrative contract are French Dassault (Mirage-2000-V), Russian RAC MiG (MiG-29 M2), Swedish SAAB (JAS-39 Gripen) and, of course, the American Lockheed Martin (F-16) and Boeing (F-18) companies.
"The RFPs will be issued (to all the five) any day now," said IAF vice-chief Air Marshal Ajit Bhavnani on Friday, while flagging off a team of 196 personnel and six Mi-17 helicopters headed for the UN peace-enforcing contingent in strife-torn Sudan.
The IAF had initially pitched for the Mirage jets since it already operates three squadrons of these fighters and did not want to further diversify its already very large inventory of 26 types of aircraft. The government, however, asked the force to go in for a wider inquiry by inviting proposals from other aviation majors also.
The deal, though still in the proposal stage, incidentally, has seen the US aggressively hawking its fighters to India. The US has even offered to put their sale on the fast-track "foreign military sales" programme through a government-to-government contract. And there is a likelihood of the government taking a "political decision" for strategic reasons.
The companies vying to bag the lucrative contract are French Dassault (Mirage-2000-V), Russian RAC MiG (MiG-29 M2), Swedish SAAB (JAS-39 Gripen) and, of course, the American Lockheed Martin (F-16) and Boeing (F-18) companies.
"The RFPs will be issued (to all the five) any day now," said IAF vice-chief Air Marshal Ajit Bhavnani on Friday, while flagging off a team of 196 personnel and six Mi-17 helicopters headed for the UN peace-enforcing contingent in strife-torn Sudan.
The IAF had initially pitched for the Mirage jets since it already operates three squadrons of these fighters and did not want to further diversify its already very large inventory of 26 types of aircraft. The government, however, asked the force to go in for a wider inquiry by inviting proposals from other aviation majors also.
The deal, though still in the proposal stage, incidentally, has seen the US aggressively hawking its fighters to India. The US has even offered to put their sale on the fast-track "foreign military sales" programme through a government-to-government contract. And there is a likelihood of the government taking a "political decision" for strategic reasons.
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