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It also claimed that if the Russian MiG is kept out of the final phase, "there might be a decision to buy 50-60 of them outside the tender process.

Wasn't reduction of types the aim of IAF too, so rejecting the Mig from the competition, but buying some of them anyway, sounds not really logical to me. :undecided:

Will these features be available for the Indian version or is it offered only for other future exports? If it is offered to India, were these features already available at the time of evaluation?

As the report says:

The new cockpit could be made available for deliveries in 2013, according to Shelley Lavender, Boeing’s vice-president Global Strike Systems.

The other enhancements would be available from 2015, she said. These include the enclosed weapons pod

So it fits to the timeframe of MMRCA (first squad in 2014, licence production in 2015) too, but it will depend on who will pay for the development, integration and tests. It won't be a new version like the F15 SE , but an upgrade that can be retrofitted on all F18SH, because the main aim is still the USN as the biggest operator of Super Hornets. I expect they will offer us to fund the upgrade and make it available for the USN like that too, because they seems to focus on F35 mainly (which causes enough trouble for them).
 
Italy's Eurofighter cancellation acts as radar catalyst

FARNBOROUGH, England (MarketWatch) -- Italy's decision to cut the number of Eurofighter Typhoon combat jets it will order has no immediate financial impact for Finmeccanica SpA, but it could be a catalyst for the funding of a new radar system for the jet, the chief executive of the defense giant said in an interview.

Earlie this week, Italian defense minister Ignacio La Russa surprised the military brass at the Farnborough Airshow with news the country would reduce its planned order for the jet by 25 aircraft due to budget pressures, saving around €2 billion ($2.56 billion).

The Eurofighter Typhoon is built by a consortium that includes Italy's Finmeccanica , EADS ( and Britain's BAE Systems .

The four initial customer nations are Germany, Spain, Italy and the U.K. Italy's decision to cancel the last tranche of its order, which was not funded yet, means it will receive 96 aircraft instead of 121.



In an interview on the sidelines of the air show, Finmeccanica CEO Pier Francesco Guarguaglini stressed that the cancellation would have no near-term financial impact on the company.

"The cut has no impact right now or next year. During that time, if we start the program to improve the aircraft, we might be able to get new customers," he said late Wednesday.

Italy's cancellation will put added pressure on the consortium to try and export the aircraft to other countries. India, for instance, is currently attracting offers from all around the world for a $12 billion contract for 126 fighter planes.

In order to have a chance of winning that deal, however, the consortium must develop an electronic radar system -- known as Active Electronically Scanned Array Radar -- for the Eurofighter as an alternative to the mechanical one the current model is equipped with. The four European air forces that fly the Typhoon have no immediate requirement for an AESAR.

"I assume they will go down the path of fitting an electronic radar. That will make it easier to sell the plane to export markets like India and Japan," Guarguaglini said.

Euroradar, a multi-national consortium lead by SELEX Galileo, a Finmeccanica unit, makes the current mechanical radar on the jet and is starting the full-scale development of an AESAR.

Beyond spurring the development of a new radar system, Italy's reduction of its order will have financial consequences.

Guarguaglini said the consortium would now start talks with the government about the cancellation fee it will have to pay.

While the penalties and compensations written in the umbrella contract signed by the four customer nations are still valid, Finmeccanica said it could not disclose them.

Finmeccanica 'confident' in Italian legal system

While Italy's Eurofighter cancellation comes as a disappointment to Finmeccanica, it may not be its biggest headache.

Over the past few weeks the company has been forced to repeatedly deny allegations of slush funds abroad and meetings between Guarguaglini and Rome businessman Gennaro Mokbel, who faces money-laundering charges in a probe by Italian prosecutors.

They are investigating whether Mokbel used a chain of holding companies to acquire a large stake in Digint with the help of a former Finmeccanica consultant, potentially using the stake to launder money, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month, citing people familiar with the matter.

Guarguaglini on Wednesday reiterated that the probe had no relation to Finmeccanica.

"I would like to point out that this investigation doesn't concern Finmeccanica. We only went in as person of interest," he said.

"We haven't done anything against the Italian law and are confident in the Italian justice system," he added.


Eurofighter cancellation acts as radar catalyst - MarketWatch
 
BY EDITOR AT 22 JULY, 2010, 1:18 PM

BY: Express News Service


With just a few months left for the Indian Air Force (IAF) to finalise a contract for supplying 126 medium multirole combat aircraft (MMRCA), foreign aircraft manufacturers in the race for the $10 billion deal are making some smart moves to woo the IAF.

At the ongoing Farnborough Air Show in UK, Lockheed Martin, which is offering its F16 IN Super Viper to replace the IAF’s aging MiGs, would be showcasing the aerial refuelling device which it has codeveloped with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The aerial refuelling device which will be fitted on to one of the competing F16 fighter jets, will show off the US defence major’s capabilities to some highprofile visitors from India.

The Indian contingent is led by Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju and includes top defence officials.Lockheed Martin would be counting on its collaboration with HAL to score some brownie points as the IAF has already said that ‘transfer of technology’ and ‘codevelopment’ will be counted as positives when the aircraft will be shortlisted in the final round.

The IAF is looking to avoid a repeat of its problems with the Soviet manufactured MiG, for which indigenously developed spare parts are not available. Eurofighter on its part, announced on Tuesday that it has began full scale development of the GenNext Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, which will be fitted to its Eurofighter Typhoon. Setting the target inservice date for this advanced radar at 2015, the defence giant said, “Eurofighter is in the best possible position when offering Typhoon to the export market.

The inservice date means we are perfectly positioned to respond to the complex and demanding requirements of the air forces.”The other contenders for India’s biggest defence deal are Boeing’s F/A18, Russia’s MiG35, Dassault’s Rafale and Saab’s Gripen. All the six companies pitching for the deal have completed flight tests in India.
 
Friends, We all have discussed more than enough about the technical aspects of the contenders, which is actually a single part of the total procurement process. Here I'm posting an excellent article by Retd Air Marshal V.K.Bhatia to get an overall view about the complex procedure.


In Progress

By Air Marshal (Retd)
V.K. Bhatia



One of the most exhaustive and arduous flight evaluation trials conducted by the Indian Air Force (IAF) in its quest for selecting an Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) which had spilled over into the month of May appear to be finally over. It may be recalled that last year just prior to India’s Parliamentary Elections, the IAF had completed the Herculean task of technical evaluation of the responses to India’s request for proposal (RFP) from the six global bidders and submitted the report to the Defence Ministry. Subsequently, while the groundwork had commenced, it was evident that the next phase of the procurement procedure could be undertaken only after the elections and the formation of the new government at the Centre. Flight Evaluation or ‘field trials’ is just the fourth of the eight phases of DPP (see table) but due to the UPA’s return to power for the second term this phase thankfully was not overly delayed.

STAGES AS PER DPP ALREADY COMPLETED
  • 1 Formulation of services Qualitative Requirements
  • 2 Solicitation of offers
  • 3 Technical Evaluation
  • 4 Field Trial
STAGES TO GO
  • 5 Staff Evaluations (probably completed by now)
  • 6 Technical Oversight
  • 7 Commercial Evaluation
  • 8 Contract Singing and Management

To flight evaluate all competing aircraft, the IAF had chalked up a comprehensive programme involving tests at three different locations in India: technical and humid conditions tests in Bengalure; hot-weather desert trials in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan and Leh in Ladakh area of Jammu & Kashmir for the conduct of high-altitude trials where the terrain exceeds 10,000 ft amsl (above mean sea level). In addition, while the single-seat versions of the participating aircraft were planned to be conducted in India, the twin-seat versions as also selected weapons’ trials were to be carried out in the respective manufacturers’ country locations. The bidding aircraft were also planned to be flight evaluated sequentially by the same sets of designated teams in India and abroad. To refresh memories, the six competitors in the fray for India’s Rs 50,000 crore ($10 billion plus) ‘mother of all defence deals’ are the Saab JAS-39 Gripen, Eurofighter Typhoon, Rafale from Dassault, Mikoyan MiG-35, Lockheed Martin F-16IN Super Viper and the Boeing F/A-18IN (a version of the Super Hornet).

In the event, the flight evaluation phase could commence only in August/September 2009. The task was nothing short of daunting but it must go to the credit of the IAF and the participating vendors that the flight testing phase could be completed within a couple of months’ spill over from the original schedule of March/April 2010. So what is next? Is this a good omen for the things to shape up better as far as sticking to the schedule is concerned?

Reportedly, the IAF is once again burning the proverbial midnight oil to complete the next stage of the country’s labourious Defence Procurement Procedure, i.e. staff evaluation, sifting through the immense sets of data it must have collected during the flight evaluation stage. And if it is able to actually complete this highly complex and difficult task within the scheduled timeframe and hand over the report to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) by June-end, it would indeed be a record of sorts. But would the recordbreaking efforts of the IAF help accelerate matters? Overall, the acquisition process has dragged on to such an extent as to call for rebidding as per the contract rules. On April 28, the MoD was forced to act under its own DPP rules in extending bids by a year, which in turn allows the vendors to revise the bids up or down. A year’s delay should normally drive the costs up by 5 to 7 per cent under normal circumstances, but the volatility factor could cause havoc to the vendors’ calculations. In view of the present day global economic uncertainties and the resulting fluctuations in inter-currency relationships, the volatility factor could take ominous proportions. For example, it is rumoured that the slide down in the value of Euro on the one hand and the fierce competition among the rival bidders on the other, may have made the European entries, namely the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Rafale,somewhat cheaper than before. However, it needs to be appreciated that in the long run, delays would inevitably raise the programme costs and prevent in-service induction of the winning aircraft on schedule.

In all probability, the IAF would have lived up to its selfmade promise of completing the ‘staff evaluation’ phase by June end and handed over the report to the Technical Oversight Committee (TOC) for the next phase. It is expected that the TOC would do its bit with the same sense of urgency as the IAF because the remaining steps, especially the ‘commercial evaluation’ and ‘price negotiations’ are complex procedures that cannot be gone through in a hurry. However, at this stage, it can only be hoped that the final phases are completed without stagnation in negotiations. All in all, while assurances from various quarters that the MMRCA would be in service by 2014 might appear somewhat unrealistic, it is imperative that the deal is finalised expeditiously. The IAF cannot wait interminably for the much needed combat capability transfusion.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Followed by RFP details :

A request for proposal (RFP) for the 126 combat jets was floated in August 2007 and all those invited responded with their proposals by April 2008. Since then authorities have been studying the copious amount of documents submitted, which in the case of some bidders runs into as many as 10,000 pages. India’s defense procurement process is definitely a game for the patient, and this was no exception. The Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) RFP caps a process that began in 2001, when the IAF sent out its request for information (RFI) for 126 jets. After delays lasting almost 2 years beyond the planned December 2005 issue date, India’s Ministry of Defence finally announced a formal Request for Proposal on Aug 28/07.

The RFP announcement estimated the program at a cost of Rs. 42,000 crores (about $10.24 billion as of the RFP date, or about $81.3 million per fighter). The 211-page document includes clauses for initial purchase, transfer of technology, licensed production, and life-time maintenance support for the aircraft. Under the terms of purchase, the first 18 aircraft will come in a ‘fly away’ condition, while the remaining 108 will be manufactured under Transfer of Technology. Some reports add an option for an additional 64 aircraft on the same terms, bringing the total to 190 aircraft; DID is attempting to confirm this.

The vendors had 6 months to submit their proposals. Selection involves an exhaustive evaluation process as detailed in the Defence Procurement Procedures (DPP) 2006. First, submitted proposals will be technically evaluated by a professional team to check for compliance with IAF’s operational requirements and other RFP conditions. Then extensive field trials evaluate aircraft performance. Finally, the short listed vendors’ commercial proposals are examined and compared. The defence ministry’s Contract Negotiation Committee (CNC) would then hold discussions with the vendors before identifying their preferred manufacturer. Their report goes to the defence minister, who must forward it to the finance minister. After the file returns to the defence ministry, it goes for final approval to the cabinet committee on security (CCS).

This is not a speedy process. The selection process alone is likely to take at least 2 1/2 years, to be followed by lengthy price negotiations, and probably including delays along the way. Most observers believe that delivery of any aircraft is unlikely before 2013.

The vendor who finally wins will be required to undertake 50% offset obligations in India. That’s a boost from the usual 30%, which is required for Indian defense purchases over $70 million. The additional 20% was added because India is looking for a large boost to its aerospace and defense electronics industries, and understands that the size of their purchase gives them additional leverage. The Indian MoD’s RFP release added that “Foreign vendors would be provided great flexibility in effecting tie up with Indian partners for this purpose.” It also says that:“The aircraft are likely to be in service for over 40 years. Great care has been taken to ensure that only determinable factors, which do not lend themselves to any subjectivity, are included in the commercial selection model. The selection would be transparent and fair….

It may be recalled that the Defence Minister Shri A K Antony while chairing the Defence Acquisition Council Meeting on June 29, 2007 had outlined three guiding principles for this procurement scheme. First, the operational requirements of IAF should be fully met. Second, the selection process should be competitive, fair and transparent, so that best value for money is realized. Lastly, Indian defence industries should get an opportunity to grow to global scales."

The RFP lays down that the first aircraft is supplied within 36 months of the contract being signed and the 18th within 48 months. The 19th aircraft, the first to be assembled in India, will come within 54 months. Thereafter, there will be an incremental increase with the last aircraft to be delivered by 2020.

India MMRCA Programme - IAF Conducts Marathon Race for Jet Fighters
 
PHOTO: Indian Delegation With The Gripen NG Demo At Farnborough 2010
LiveFist - The Best of Indian Defence: PHOTO: Indian Delegation With The Gripen NG Demo At Farnborough 2010

20100721015-744599.jpg


The photograph shows Gripen India Campaign Director, Eddy de la Motte (2nd from left), Swedish Air Force Chief Gen Anders Silwer (3rd from left), Indian Minister of State for Defence Mr. M M Pallam Raju (4th from left), Brazilian Air Forces Chief Gen Juniti Saito (5th from left) and Secretary Defence Production Mr. R K Singh (6th from left) by the Gripen NG Demonstrator at Farnborough Air Show. Also seen is Air Marshal Sumit Mukerji, AOC-in-C, Southern Air Command (7th from left).
 
PHOTO: Indian Delegation With The Gripen NG Demo At Farnborough 2010
LiveFist - The Best of Indian Defence: PHOTO: Indian Delegation With The Gripen NG Demo At Farnborough 2010

20100721015-744599.jpg


The photograph shows Gripen India Campaign Director, Eddy de la Motte (2nd from left), Swedish Air Force Chief Gen Anders Silwer (3rd from left), Indian Minister of State for Defence Mr. M M Pallam Raju (4th from left), Brazilian Air Forces Chief Gen Juniti Saito (5th from left) and Secretary Defence Production Mr. R K Singh (6th from left) by the Gripen NG Demonstrator at Farnborough Air Show. Also seen is Air Marshal Sumit Mukerji, AOC-in-C, Southern Air Command (7th from left).

The whole bunch looks to be a happy lot.
Will we be seeing a split MRCA with Grippen accommodated too??:what::what:
 
Going by the trends ...IFF MRCA is split then it will be most probably EF+SH..
 
A question..any body know,when did the weapons trial completed on MRCA?? :undecided: no news about it..Then how come they say trial is over??
 
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