The "mother" could well become the "granny" of all defence deals in the years ahead. India is likely to go in for another 63 fighters after delivery of the first 126 MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) if the "timelines" for its other fighter development projects are not met, say top defence officials.
When the MMRCA selection process was initiated by the defence ministry in mid-2007, the overall project cost was pegged at Rs 42,000 crore, or $10.4 billion for 126 fighters. But it will zoom well beyond $20 billion, if India eventually decides to opt for 189 jets since inflation is also being factored in. Even with 126 jets, this is the biggest such fighter contract going around the world as of now.
This comes even as MoD is all set to open the commercial bids of the two jets left in the MMRCA fray —French Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon —"within a week or two"। Eurofighter Typhoon is backed by the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy.
MoD has already rejected "any scope for comeback" by the other four jets, including the
American F/A-18s and F-16s, ejected out of the MMRCA race in April on technical grounds after gruelling field trials.
"We are looking for only 126 fighters. The first 18 jets will come from abroad, while the rest 108 will be manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd after transfer of technology (ToT) from end-2016 or early-2017 onwards," said a senior MoD official on Monday.
"But yes, if the timelines for the Tejas LCA (light combat aircraft) and the stealth Indo-Russian FGFA (fifth-generation fighter aircraft) projects are not met, we will go for more MMRCA to retain IAF's combat edge," he added.
Apart from progressively inducting 272 Sukhoi-30MKIs contracted from Russia for around $12 billion, IAF is slated to induct the first lot of 120 indigenous Tejas from end-2013 onwards. India also hopes to begin inducting 250 to 300 FGFA from 2020 onwards under the joint project with Russia, which rough calculations show will eventually cost India around $35 billion in the decades ahead.
But that is in the future. The request for proposal (RFP) for the ongoing MMRCA competition, issued in August 2007, did have the standard clause of India reserving the option to go in for 50% more fighters, over and above the initial 126, in the coming years.
The city will host two of India’s iconic cricketers—batting legend Sachin Tendulkar and team skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni — when they fly the Indian Air Force fighter jet, Su-30 MKI, from the Lohegaon Air Force Station. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has given the green signal to the Sukhoi sorties of Tendulkar and Dhoni. As the two are currently abroad, the formalities will be completed depending on their availability. “It is confirmed they will be flying from Pune. A decision on the dates and other formalities will be taken once they return to India, depending on their schedules,” IAF spokesperson Wing Commander T K Singha told The Indian Express from New Delhi.
While Tendulkar has been awarded the rank of an Honorary Group Captain by the IAF, Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda had recently recommended Dhoni’s name to the MoD for the rank of an Honorary Lieutenant Colonel in the Territorial Army. In January, Air Marshal Anjan Kumar Gogoi, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, South Western Air Command, had said during a visit to Lohegaon Air Force Station that a proposal for Tendulkar’s Sukhoi sortie had been sent to the MoD and if approved, it would take place from Pune. Dhoni’s sortie has, however, come as a pleasant surprise. “We will try to plan the sorties together. The duo will have to undergo medical tests and attend briefing sessions before the flight. They would be flying from the rear seat,” said Singha.
The Lohegaon Air Force Station, which houses three squadrons of Su-30 MKIs, hosted the then president A P J Abdul Kalam’s sortie in 2006. In 2009, President Pratibha Patil too took a sortie in a Su- 30 MKI.
The fifth and sixth production models of the F-35 Lightning II, F-35A AF-10 and AF-11, completed their inaugural flights on 29 June and 1 July 2011, respectively, from NAS Fort Worth JRB. (AF-11 first flight shown in photo.)
Lt. Col. Leonard Kearl was at the controls for the 1,000th F-35 flight on 20 June 2011. The 1.8-hour flight, completed in F-35A AF-6, originated from Edwards AFB, California.
The Indian Air Force is close to choosing between the AH-64D and the Mi-28NE, with a decision anticipated in the next two months, according to Apache manufacturer Boeing.
Speaking at the Paris Air Show, Chris Chadwick, president of Boeing Military Aircraft, confirmed that both the flying tests and written evaluations of both aircraft had been submitted and a winner was likely to emerge in the third quarter of 2011.
If this timeframe is met, deliveries would start from 2014, with the first operational units being fielded in 2015.
Chadwick said a winner was also expected to emerge for the Indian Air Force's tender for 15 heavy lift helicopters by the end of the year, in a competition which pitches Boeing's CH-47F against the Mil Mi-26T2.
‘For the attack helicopter, the trials have completed, they completed the written evaluations and we expect it will be announced in within the next few months. On the heavy helicopter, that's about six months out - they have finished the flight evaluations and now they have to go through the process of the written evaluations and make a decision later this fall,' he said.
Chadwick was bullish about the future of the Chinook, noting that a $130 million capital investment in its Philadelphia production line, raising production to six per month, was a reflection of the reality that ‘if they can build more, they can sell more'.
Boeing is currently working with the US Army on its second multi-year contract for 155 CH-47F aircraft, with contract award expected in January 2013.
Chadwick was also upbeat about Bell's decision to fully hand the reins of the BA609 civil tiltrotor over to AgustaWestland, noting that its partner on the Bell-Boeing V-22 tiltrotor would be be able to devote greater focous to that programme.
‘Across rotorcraft there really is a clear dividing line between the commercial applications and military applications. Obviously we are not in the commercial business - it is a different business model. On the defence side, from Boeing's perspective I think this is great because now Bell will be focused 100% on the defence side of the tiltrotor business,' he argued.
He said that tiltrotor technology was expected to underpin Boeing's approach to the US Department of Defense's Joint Multirole (JMR) programme.
‘If you look at rotorcraft there are two differentiators - speed and reliability. And our whole focus and internal investment, and when we partner with others, has been focused on how do you take that and move it to the left, because it is a disruptive technology.
‘At this point in time all our investment has been internal and proprietary. Do I have Sikorsky (X2) like product I am going to roll out next week, no, but we have significantly invested in that area.'
With the $2.4 billion Mirage-2000 upgrade deal with France in its final stages, India's defence ministry and air force top brass seem to be split over the high costs and likely benefits to the country's future air power needs.
With the contract papers said to be headed to the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the volume against the deal is rising, top officials told IANS here.
Among points of contention is the deal cost to upgrade the 52 Mirage-2000 combat aircraft by French company Dassault Aviation. Taking into account $1 billion for new weapons and another $500 million for new facilities at Bangalore-based Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the upgrade, the cost could rise to $3.9 billion, the officials said.
"The upgrade programme will cost the Indian exchequer $7.9 million per Mirage-2000 aircraft. But India is buying 126 new Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) under a $10.4 billion tender that is to be finalised in this fiscal.
"The cost of the new fourth generation fighter jet works out to $7.9 million per plane. Is it prudent to pay the same price for a swanky new plane and just an upgrade programme for a 25-year-old plane?" said a senior defence ministry official.
Confirming the raging debate, Indian Air Force (IAF) officers said this was the reason the contract has not seen the light of the day yet, though it has been in the pipeline for years now.
There was a strong push for the deal when French President Nicolas Sarkozy's visited India in December 2010 and the country's Defence Minister Gerard Longuet was here in May this year.
Among the upgrades planned for Mirage-2000 under the contract include night vision goggle compatible glass cockpit, advanced navigational systems, advanced Identify Friend or Foe (IFF) system, advanced multi-mode multi-layered radar, fully integrated electronic warfare suite and advanced beyond visual range (BVR) capability. The new weapons include 450 MICA interception and aerial combat missiles.
French firms Thales and MBDA will be the weapons systems integrator and missiles supplier respectively.
"In fact, Thales and MBDA were initially quoting much more," said IAF officers. "But even at this cost and age, an upgraded Mirage can operate efficiently for another 20 years and still be a potent, frontline fighter jet. The upgrade of the Mirages would provide it a fourth generation combat jet capability," the officers told IANS, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
India bought 52 Mirage-2000s in 1982 and fully inducted these into the IAF in 1986. Two of the planes will be upgraded in France, another two in India with French help, and the rest 48 entirely by HAL.
Another issue is the nine-year timeframe given by Dassault, the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of Mirages, to complete the upgrade.
"In comparison, the same firm is quoting deliveries of just six years if it wins the MMRCA deal, on the lines of what its competitor in the final fray, EADS, too has quoted," officials noted.
"Not only will the upgraded Mirages cost as much as a brand new twin-engine fourth generation fighter, but some of the Mirages will be 35 years old by the time they are upgraded," they said.
Dassault, officials said, had in the original 1982 contract guaranteed 30-year plus 10-year life for the planes. "Thus the upgraded Mirages will have just another five years of service left, provided there is no time or cost over-runs. Then why spend a fortune?" they asked.
IAF officers also noted that Israel had also offered to upgrade the Mirages, but at half the price. But the defence ministry quoted an old policy that only OEMs could carry out an upgrade.
"The same ministry has called for competitive bids in recent months for equally complex fighter aircraft, particularly those from Russian or erstwhile Soviet stable," they said.
