Dassault Rafale, tender | News & Discussions

[SpArK]

Aircraft deal: IAF fears bid losers may complain to CVC​

India is just about a month or two away from deciding the winner of the $10.4-billion contract for 126 combat aircraft, but the Indian Air Force (IAF) is afraid the losers among the six bidders for the deal might derail the process of quick acquisition by knocking on the corruption watchdog’s doors.

The purchase process, which is at a very mature stage, is all set for the cost negotiation stage that will be decided in a week or two and the final winner for signing the contract would be decided by September, Air Chief Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik told a press conference here Thursday at Aero India 2011 at Yelahanka air base.

“But some dissatisfied vendor among those not chosen for cost negotiations may put a spoke in the wheel and derail the process by going to the Central Vigilance Commissioner with complaints leading to a delay, though we want to quickly sign the contract,” Naik said.

American aerospace majors Boeing and Lockheed Martin, Russian MiG-RAC, Swedish Saab, French Dassault and European consortium EADS are in the race for the deal whose tender was issued in August 2007.

The IAF completed the flight and weapons evaluation of the six contending aircraft F-16, F/A-18, MiG-35, Gripen, Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon last year and submitted its report to the defense ministry, which is studying the capabilities of all the planes.

When the cost negotiation stage is reached, the government is expected to call only one of the six companies for talks, thereby signaling that the other five firms are out of contention.


Asked about the delay in finalizing the winner for the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) deal, whereas the IAF had carried out a quick and smooth flight and weapons evaluation, Naik said since the six aircraft were evaluated on 600 technical points, there were several queries and counter-queries from the defense ministry requiring a lot of education.

Defense Minister Arackaparambil Kurian Antony said Wednesday that there would be no political interference in the MMRCA deal and that the winner would be chosen on merits and capabilities of the competing aircraft.

Antony said that the government would not be prejudiced against or in favor of any country but would go by the evaluation report of the IAF.

Aircraft deal: IAF fears bid losers may complain to CVC | StratPost

 

[luckyyy]

When the cost negotiation stage is reached, the government is expected to call only one of the six companies for talks, thereby signaling that the other five firms are out of contention.

seem that they has decided for EUROFIGHTER .

 

[satishkumarcsc]

I think the IAF is pretty skeptical after what happened between Bell helicopters and the Eurocopter Eucril/Fennec deal. Remember the tender for the 197 LUH anyone? Bell knew pretty well they had been beaten fair and square but still insisted on complaining. And that is why they were nowhere to be seen in the re-tender.

 

[the rafter]

Indian MMRCA tender RFP favours single engine aircraft: Lockheed Martin : Defense news

Lockheed Martin, which is fielding its single engine F-16 in the Indian MMRCA competition,is of the view that the RFP for the tender actually favours single engine fighters due to its emphasis on life cycle costs.

As the life cycle costs of a single engine fighter are substantially lower than that of twin engine fighter, the former will have a clear edge over the latter in technical evaluation, said Orville Prinz, VP Business Development, India of Lockheed Martin. Prinz was speaking at a media briefing during the Aero India 2011 show.

The F-16 and the Saab Gripen are the only single engine fighters in the $10 billion competition to sell 126 fighters to the IAF. The others, the Furofighter, the Boeing F/A 18 and the Russian MiG 35 are twin engine fighters.

AERO INDIA: Uncertainty over MMRCA time-frame

A Boeing official sparked debate among the competitors at the show by predicting that three twin-engine aircraft will make the shortlist. Lockheed Martin and Saab were both quick to promote the through-life cost benefits of a single-engine design.

http://www.flightglobal.com/article...-india-uncertainty-over-mmrca-time-frame.html

 

[the rafter]

Eurofighter looks to India for partnership - The Times of India
TNN, Feb 11, 2011, 06.11am IST

BANGALORE: European consortium Eurofighter is looking at India as an industrial partner to support its Eurofighter Typhoon programme. The consortium wants to integrate India into its Eurofighter programme to co-develop and co-produce future upgrades, enhancements, new sub-systems and software, said Bernhard Gerwert, chairman of the Supervisory Board of Eurofighter and the CEO of Cassidian Air Systems.

The partnership is expected to catapult trained engineering capabilities in India and facilitate access to different technologies. "We are starting to develop a base for a comprehensive future supplier network which will plug India into the global Eurofighter supply chain," he said. Eurofighter is one of the six contenders for the Indian Air Force's 126 medium multi-role combat aicraft (MMRCA) deal worth $11 billion

 

[the rafter]

IAF chief's googly on multi-role aircraft
Ajai Shukla / Yelahanka/ Bangalore February 11, 2011, 0:16 IST
Says decision on Rs 45,500-cr buy within weeks; also assures Mirage deal conclusion next month.
Electrifying aerospace vendors at Aero India 2011 here, Indian Air Force chief, Air Chief Marshal P V Naik announced today that New Delhi would decide within two weeks about which medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) it would buy, and actually sign the $10 billion (Rs 45,500 crore) contract by September.
The CNC (Cost Negotiation Committee) is likely to start in a week or two. Taking that as the datum and giving (the CNC) another six-eight months, the contract is likely to be signed in September,” declared Naik.
The CNC is a group of officials that negotiates between the ministry of defence (MoD) and the winning vendor on a final price for the sale.

Naik’s boss, defence minister A K Antony, had stated here yesterday that the globally-watched contract would be finalised by the end of the next financial year, 2011-2012, i.e. by March 2012. By setting the deadline six months earlier, Naik appears to have put the MoD under pressure.

Asked by Business Standard for a clarification, Naik’s officiating deputy, Air Marshal R K Sharma, confirmed his chief’s announcement. He said the winning vendor would be issued an invitation within two weeks to appear for cost negotiations, while the CNC would actually meet within two months. An invitation to a vendor to appear in a CNC is tantamount to announcing the winner of a contract.

“The DAC (the MoD’s apex Defence Acquisition Council) will formalise the winner soon; we will then invite that company for negotiations,” said Sharma.

Six fighters are competing for the IAF contract: Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet; Lockheed Martin’s F-16IN Super Viper; the MiG Corporation’s MiG-35; Saab’s Gripen NG; Dassault’s Rafale; and a four-nation European consortium’s Eurofighter. Executives from these companies say they are baffled by Naik’s announcement. Asked in late 2010 to rework their offset bids, and with no final date yet given for this, the MoD does not have a key element needed to decide a winner.

“Is the MoD going to decide the contract winner without examining the offset bids?” asks a bemused executive from one of the competing aircraft manufacturers.

‘Technical coaching’
While no answers were forthcoming, the air chief did explain why little appears to have happened since July 2010, when the IAF gave its flight trial evaluation report to the MoD. Naik revealed the last six months had gone by in explaining to the MoD the technical nuances of the flight trials.

“There have been a lot of queries and counter-queries [between the MoD and the IAF]. It is such a complicated deal, and there is so much of technical detail involved… so there was a lot of, shall we say, education to be done so that the report was clearly understood in all its manifestations,” explained Naik.

The air chief also voiced his apprehension that the contract could be delayed by “dissatisfied vendors (who) put a spoke in the wheel”, using allegations of wrongdoing to trigger long-running probes by investigation agencies.

Yesterday, a defensive Antony had announced that political considerations would play no role in deciding the winner. That seemed to suggest the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), which will be required to approve the contract after the CNC negotiates a final price, would merely rubber-stamp the IAF/MoD decision.

Other than the impending contract for 126 medium fighters to boost the IAF’s dwindling numbers, the IAF chief also announced the impending conclusion, “within this financial year”, of the contract to upgrade the air force’s 20-year-old fleet of 52 Mirage-2000 medium fighters. This upgrade, the subject of bitter negotiations between the IAF and French contractor Thales, will give the Mirage-2000 another 20 years of service life, by fitting on a new radar and a modern cockpit with state-of-the-art avionics and electronic warfare equipment.

While Thales had initially demanded $52 million per aircraft, the deal has been concluded, say IAF sources to Business Standard, at $39 million (Rs 177 crore) per aircraft.

 

[the rafter]

Indian Officials Send Mixed Signals On Fighter Schedule | AVIATION WEEK

Indian defense officials have given conflicting statements about the country’s long-awaited fighter selection, with Defense Minister A.K. Antony indicating the final choice will be pushed into 2012, but the country’s top air force official pointing to a selection this October.

Antony said at the Aero India air show that the selection of a winner in the Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) program — originally expected this year — was being pushed to March of next year, although a winnowing of contractors would still occur this year.

But Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik said the final choice would be announced by October, and that price negotiations would begin in a week.

The dissonance was noticed. “This could be the Chief’s way of putting pressure on the government to speed the process as the military is concerned about its reduced squadron strength,” one official commented.

On static display at Aero India this week were the candidate fighters: the Boeing F/A-18, Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon, Lockheed Martin F-16 and Saab Gripen. The other contender - and the one most conspicuous by its absence - was the RSK MiG-35.

According to one vendor, the last stage for submissions, which includes a review of offset obligations, has yet to occur. And before price negotiations can take place, the defense ministry must clarify the transfer of technology clause that been a bone of contention between the vendors and the government. A further amendment to India’s new defense procurement policy — released only last month — is expected to address these concerns.

“Under these circumstances, there is no way a decision can be made,” the vendor says.

India’s recent defense procurement policy change allowed for offset requirements to be met not only by giving defense manufacturing work to India, but also manufacturing work related to commercial aviation and homeland security. One of the leading concerns has been whether the local defense industry could absorb all the offset work headed its way. Some U.S. and European companies lobbied for the policy change, arguing it is in India’s interest to have businesses that work across defense and civil programs.

Some executives involved in the MMRCA competition say another reason the government is procrastinating is because it was recently rocked by corruption scandals having to do with the issuance of telecommunications spectrum licenses. Government leaders want the local political situation to improve before making an announcement for the multibillion-dollar purchase of 126 MMRCA fighters.

“They want to make sure they have dotted all the I’s and crossed all the T’s,” says one executive involved in the competition, adding that “everything has to be transparent and above-board so as to avoid any complaints later on or any political backlash.”

Whatever decision India makes, it will reverberate overseas politically, as it will say a lot about how India sees the world and which bilateral relationship it seeks to enhance the most.

 

[the rafter]

AERO INDIA: Boeing underlines Super Hornet's 'proven capability'
The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet's proven combat capability and reduced total ownership costs are Boeing's key discriminators in India's medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) competition, the company says.
"We absolutely believe that the Super Hornet is an ideal weapon system as a complement to the [Indian air force's Sukhoi] Su-30," says Kory Matthews, vice-president F/A-18 and EA-18G programmes for Boeing Military Aircraft. "Multi-role capability is at the sweet-spot of this fighter."
Matthews notes that the US Navy's Super Hornet fleet is currently being flown at a rate of around 120,000h per year, and that over 100,000h has already been amassed under combat conditions. Crucially for the US Hornet industry team here this week - which also includes GE Aviation and Raytheon - the type's APG-79 is the only combat-proven active electronically scanned array radar in the contest, he says.
In terms of through-life costs, the USN's operation of the F/A-18E/F has shown the type to be "highly reliable and with excellent maintainability", Matthews says. For example, an average of just 12 maintenance man hours are currently required per flight hour, he adds.
With India expected to issue a shortlist within the next few months to narrow its current six-strong field for the MMRCA programme, Matthews speculates that it could pick three of the twin-engine candidates to advance to the next phase. "We've offered a fully compliant proposal with the Super Hornet, and believe it's ideally suited," he says.
The F/A-18F Super Hornet flying at the show each day is doing so with what the Boeing official describes as an "operationally-relevant" weapons load. Totalling almost 1,220kg (4,000lb), this includes two each of Raytheon's AIM-9X and AIM-120 air-to-air missiles and two Mk 82-series bombs.

 

[sancho]

The Rafale: the attraction of the show Aero India

Two fighter jets Rafale Air Force are deployed on the Yelahanka air base in India at the international exhibition Aero India which runs from 9 to 13 February 2011. This is the first time the French Air Force contributes to this major event in the Indian aviation.

During the show, one of French hunters will be presented on static display for visitors, while the second will be led by Solo Display Pilot, Captain Cedric Ruet, air for a presentation. The demonstration of the Rafale is to highlight the qualities of the aircraft in terms of evolution, he says. This is to show the public the maneuverability, acceleration, power and agility of the aircraft on a flight of ten minutes. "A short time during which the Rafale enchants an audience of both professionals and novices of all ages.

During a rehearsal session, the master executes Ruet figures with perfect mastery he acquired during his five years of experience as a pilot of the Rafale fighter squadron 1 / 7 "Provence" of Saint-Dizier. Meet its international counterparts, Pilots foreign fighters, he demonstrates with finesse the flight capabilities of flagship of the French Air Force by linking the barrels rapid resumption of instant energy, a slow passage after which he went directly to a loop ... "I try to make a dynamic display with many maneuvers at low altitude and in a confined environment. She must be attractive, that the public is watching the plane from takeoff to landing. "

Mission accomplished for the pilot, two days before the official opening of the exhibition Aero India, already unanimously in its foreign counterparts during rehearsals in the Indian skies. For these seasoned fighter pilots, the presentation of Captain Ruet demonstrates above all the qualities of the Rafale in aerial combat. "For example, take energy to low speed and go on a vertical plane to go and execute a shot gun at a target is a technique routinely used in combat," he explains. It is a sequence of demonstration. "

Besides its undoubted capacity to changes in the third dimension, the Rafale is also appreciated for its high technology, avionics and weapon systems involved. According to Captain Ruet, "his first quality is that omnirole. For example, the squadron 1 / 7" Provence "by Saint-Dizier, where it is implemented, we provide air defense missions, reconnaissance reconnaissance pod with the new generation (Reco NG), ground attack, both with weapons guided by GPS or laser designation grace of Damocles Pod ... "Indeed, one Rafale fighter can simultaneously execute all missions assigned to seven different types of aircraft during a flight. For the French fighter pilot, former pilot of the Mirage 2000N, the Rafale is also "a comfortable aircraft," including human engineering to better focus on the heart of the mission, run more quickly and intuitively.
He explains: "In the cockpit, the information is well presented and merged on a common carrier. Everything is within reach and the pilot did not need to move or turn around to find a command. There are touch controls on hand and the presentation of screens that display the information necessary for the mission is very friendly. Everything makes sense! For proof, fighter pilots from all walks adapt rather easily to his control when they start on the Rafale.

Reliability, firepower and ability to perform the tasks assigned to it are the Rafale fighter plane and single performance. "For me, this is undoubtedly the best tool I know of," says Captain Ruet without hesitation.

Wednesday 9 to Sunday, February 13, the Rafale will evolve in the Indian sky several times a day.

Google Übersetzer

 

[air marshal]

Dogfight over $10b fighter deal
February 10, 2011

It’s the biggest fighter jet import order in a long time, and for a long time. It’s the deal the world's great military-industrial powers have been waiting to clinch — the Indian Air Force's Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) purchase that could fetch the deal winner over $ 10 billion. And with Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik saying he expected India to have signed off on the deal by September, the dogfight between the contenders is intensifying.

Signs of that intensification were more than apparent during the Aero India show at the Yelahanka Air Force Station on Thursday, with some of the contenders — Lockheed Martin (F-16IN), Boeing (F/A-18), EADS (Eurofighter Typhoon), the French Dassault (Rafale), SAAB (Gripen) — making light or dismissing outright competitors.

Officials of the European contenders mocked Lockheed Martin's apparently recent bid to let the F-35 Fifth Generation fighter among the contending Fourth Generation fighters, saying that it was a sign of the F-16IN losing altitude in the contest. The world’s largest military equipment maker, they alleged, has sought to confuse Indian decision-makers by putting out talk of the F-35. Worse, they alleged, the Fifth Generation tag is a marketing gimmick, because “Lockheed Martin has put out a self-serving definition of what constitutes a Fifth Generation jet,” EADS officials said.

“If you are saying stealth is a defining 5G characteristic, then the greater the capabilities of the electronic scanning (AESA) radar, the other must-have, the more questionable stealth becomes”, the officials said. “Also, designing a fighter for stealth means compromising on agility and lethality. Stealth is a survivability concern. You can sneak in on an enemy, but you will still need to have a good punch to take out the enemy. Also, stealth works so long as you are not detected, but once detected, stealthy aircraft lack agility to escape. Stealth and survivability can be ensured in more than one way. The Eurofighter relies on agility, the F-22 relies on agility to survive. So, is India prepared to sacrifice weapons carriage, supercruise, agility for stealth”.

Lockheed Martin officials, in turn, seemed to be dismissing fellow US giant Boeing's bid to win the contract for its F/A-18 Super Hornet by dangling a 'roadmap of future development' of the aircraft that would give it Fifth Generation characteristics and keep the jet relevant for the next several decades. "Fifth Generation capabilities cannot be grafted onto an existing aircraft. They have to be built in from the start", they said.

Orville Prins, Lockheed Martin's VP (Business Development), told Deccan Chronicle that talk of offering the F-35 was not new. Company officials had been speaking to Indian authorities on the possibility for over five years, he said, adding that US government officials had indicated that there were no barriers to selling F-35 fighters to India.

Nonetheless, "The IAF has said it is committed to the MMRCA deal and will go through with it, and the aircraft on offer is the F-16IN", Mr. Prins said, adding for good measure to dispel concerns over India buying an aircraft that even the Pakistan Air Force flies, "If India chooses the F-16IN, it will be the finest F-16 ever built. It will have a proven AESA radar and all the capabilities that that brings". The PAF F-16s do not have AESA radars.

Asked about concerns over America's willingness to transfer technology, Mr. Prins said, "The IAF's request for proposal stipulated technology transfer in five categories in four phases. Our proposal is fully compliant. There's no requirement for 100 per cent technology transfer in the RFP. The final proposal was submitted by the US government. So, there should be no problem on the ToT front". "Other contenders have US technology in their fighters. In offering ToT, they will have to go through the same US government requirements as we do", he added.

Dogfight over $10b fighter deal | Deccan Chronicle | 2011-02-11

 

[SpArK]

“If you are saying stealth is a defining 5G characteristic, then the greater the capabilities of the electronic scanning (AESA) radar, the other must-have, the more questionable stealth becomes”, the officials said. “Also, designing a fighter for stealth means compromising on agility and lethality. Stealth is a survivability concern. You can sneak in on an enemy, but you will still need to have a good punch to take out the enemy. Also, stealth works so long as you are not detected, but once detected, stealthy aircraft lack agility to escape. Stealth and survivability can be ensured in more than one way. The Eurofighter relies on agility, the F-22 relies on agility to survive. So, is India prepared to sacrifice weapons carriage, supercruise, agility for stealth”.

Sounds logical.

 

[sancho]

Saab press conference at Aero India, confirming "Swedish government" support on ToT and launch of first real prototype of the Gripen E/F by march:

 

[SpArK]

 

[SpArK]

 

[sancho]

Aero India 2011 Rafale display video: