M A I N   N E W S

Aero India
Mother of all aircraft deals likely by Sept
IAF to buy 126 medium multi-role combat planes worth Rs 49,000 cr
Ajay Banerjee/TNS

Bangalore, February 10
Inching closer towards the finalisation of the biggest ever fighter aircraft deal worth Rs 49,000 crore ($11 billion), the Indian Air Force today said that negotiations with the six contenders would begin within a month from now.

Industrialist Ratan Tata gets into a US F-18 aircraft for a sortie during the ongoing Aero India show at Yelahanka air base in Bangalore on Thursday. Tribune photo: Manas Ranjan Bhui

Addressing mediapersons at Yelahanka air base here, Air Chief Marshall PV Naik said that if all went well, he expected the deal by September. The deadline, however, may not be met in case some firm losing the bid “put spokes in the wheel”, he said.

In that event, said the IAF Chief, they might have to tread a lengthy course. It was only yesterday that Defence Minister AK Antony had given a broad time frame saying he expected the deal -- 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) are to be bought -- by the next fiscal.

American aerospace majors Boeing and Lockheed Martin, Russian MiG-RAC, Swedish Saab, French Dassault and European consortium EADS are in race for the deal, tenders for which were issued in August 2007. The IAF completed flight and weapon evaluation of the six contending aircraft -- F-16, F/A-18, MiG-35, Gripen, Rafale and Eurofighter Typoon -- in July last and submitted its report to the Ministry of Defence, which is studying the capabilities of all the planes.

Even as the IAF announced its timeline, the pilots of the contending fighter aircraft today displayed the abilities of their machines while flying over the air base in deafening roars.

In the marquee chalets of the companies, serious offers were made to India. The chairman of the Supervisory Board of Eurofighter, Bernhard Gerwert, said, “We want India to be part of the EADS family. We are ready to offer a revenue-sharing partnership and also industrial development.” The UK, Germany, Spain and Italy are partners in the EADS consortium.

The UK’s Minister of Defence Equipment Support and Technology Peter Luff told The Tribune, “We will offer the most generous technology transfer as compared to our competitors.”

Guido Crosetto, Secretary of Defence, Italy; Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, Defence Minister of Germany and Costantino Mendez, Secretary of State for Defence, Spain, were present at the aero show today.

Boeing F-18-A Vice President Kory Matthews clarified that his company would be able to provide top-end technology even if India did not sign the Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA). Some new equipment can be incorporated even though the baseline offer was in line if the CISMOA was signed, his team members said in response to a question whether Boeing would be able to provide top-end equipment as the US laws did not permit the transfer of technology to countries that do not sign such agreements.