Held Hostage to CISMOA, MMRCA forced towards Euro Fighters
The Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement or CISMoA is a facet of bureaucratic and sometimes political attributes of doing business and allying with the United States. The CISMoA provides guidance on how the systems will function with other systems. Without signing the CISMOA Bharat may be ineligible to purchase advanced US technology.
A CISMoA can be a powerful tool to help operations, but it can be horribly tainted and twisted into a hindrance or a scapegoat of policy because of politics. Right now th CISMOA remains unsigned, and this remains a colossal impediment to a merit based decision.
The CISMoA attempts to facilitate agreements on how each nations radios will communicate with each other effectively. For example, India troops may want to call in an air strike with U.S. air assets, this will require Indian ground radios to be compatible with U.S. strike aircraft radios to include encryption. Likewise, U.S. Special Ops may want to call in Indian long range artillery. The U.S. SpecOps on the ground will need their radios to communicate with Indian ground based artillery batteries.
Communications such as these are only a fraction of what CISMoA can cover. Going back to the air strike scenario, if laser guided bombs are employed, the Indian ground troops may require a laser designator. Its not just point and the aircraft shoots as the press and media will have you believe. That laser designator must be set to a specific agreed upon frequency of invisible laser light. The laser guided bombs loaded on the aircraft will also be set to accept that specific frequency. You cant have the enemy using a similar frequency of laser light to direct our bombs back on us (unlikely). If the frequencies do not match, the bombs wont register a signal.
CISMoA does not just cover hardware and software; it also covers doctrine and interaction. We can share a command center which could be transferring Indian commanders to U.S. ships or transferring U.S. Commanders to Indian ground command facilities. These commanders will be responsible for their respective forces. They will need to know how each other works. One Generals decision to bomb a target may be in conflict with the other Generals plan to take the target, hence, friendly fire incident. Or one General may want to continue negotiating while another General might want to bypass a village instead. CISMoA tries to create a framework for commanders to operate in so that they dont have to halt operations and call Washington or New Delhi for guidance. One regulating factor for a CISMoA can be the Rules of Engagement or ROE.
Reports suggest that in absence of the Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) and the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA), the US would be removing some of the key equipment on board the military systems being supplied to India by it. This may affect the C-130 J Hercules aircraft, C-17 heavylift aircraft and the ultra-light howitzers F-18s, and other US equipment.
The Indian Air Force Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) Competition, commonly known as the MRCA Tender, is an ongoing competition to supply the Indian Air Force with 126 Multi-Role Combat Aircraft. The Defence Ministry has allocated 42,000 crore (US$9.53 billion) for the purchase of these aircraft.
Six aircraft were bid for this multi-billion dollar contract, which has been touted as Indias single largest defence deal ever.
The discussion of purchasing F-18s from the US seems to suggest that Bharat is leaning towards European planes. Lockheed Martins F-16IN is powered by the GE F-110-132A engine. GE recently won a contract to provide F-414 engines for Indias Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). Michael Griswold, Lockheeds director of advanced development programs, says the LCA win is a good sign that the U.S. can meet its export control requirements. GE brought the best engine on the table at the lowest cost, he says.
GE F-110-132A is the most powerful engine of all the contenders of the [126-aircraft] MMRCA bid, Griswold says. Technology insertions for the engine include blisk fan, radial augmentor and a low-drag nozzle.
One potential stumbling block for U.S. competitors is the Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA), which India has yet to sign. The U.S. will not allow the export of certain sensitive items until India signs.
Both the Indian air force and the U.S. Air Force have communicated on this and both clearly understand the implications of CISMOA and how it affects the MMRCA, a senior official tells AVIATION WEEK.
For technical reasons the Indian Air Force (IAF) prefers Euro Fighters instead of USs F-18. Eurofighter GmbH, a joint venture of Alenia Aeronautica SpA, BAE Systems and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. NV (EADS), is one of the worlds leading manufacturers of advanced fighter aircraft. Eurojets EJ200 lost out in the race to be the engine for the Mark-II version of the light combat aircraft (LCA).
Russia is strongly pushing case for its Mig-35 and keeping in view its historical alliance and presence of MIGs in Indian Air Force its chances are not bleak.
Frances Mirage and Swedens Grippons too are in line.
In order to impress upon New Delhi to give better deals the Europeans have even offered to set up assembly houses in Bangalore
The Americans have hand-picked an Indian Vice President for the Company that makes F-18 to woo New Delhis support.
source:Military Strategy
