![[Bregs]](/data/avatars/m/148/148509.jpg?1491816884){kind=avatar}
[Bregs]
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2013
- Messages
- 6,156
- Reaction score
- 2
- Country
- Location
New Delhi, Sept. 8: Defence minister Manohar Parrikar is scheduled to visit Sweden this month in a move that immediately brings Swedish fighter aircraft, the Gripen, into sharper focus for the Indian Air Force.
Not since 1987 has India signed a major defence contract with Sweden. The last one was the Bofors howitzer that ran into controversy over charges of kickbacks during Rajiv Gandhi's regime.
Parrikar's scheduled visit this month would follow a five-day tour of Sweden in June by Indian Air Force Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha. Raha flew in a version of the single-engine Gripen fighter during his visit.
The maker of the Gripen, Swedish firm Saab, have proposed to set up capabilities in India to make the aircraft in India. It has also proposed technological cooperation in developing a Mark II version of the Tejas light combat aircraft.
Parrikar has said in the past that the government would take a decision on a new line of fighter aircraft by the end of the current fiscal.
The Gripen C/D and versions of the F-16 Fighting Falcon (made by the US Lockheed Martin), the F/A-E/F Super Hornet (made by Boeing, also of the US) did not make it through the trials conducted by the Indian Air Force for its tender for 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) since 2007. The Eurofighter Typhoon and the Rafale were "downselected". Rafale beat the Typhoon by quoting a lower price.
The tender was cancelled last year after Prime Minister Modi announced in Paris that India will purchase 36 Rafale aircraft through a government-to-government contract with France. The negotiations have been stalled on issue of price for some months.
But defence ministry sources say that a contract is now likely with a French delegation expected to arrive in Delhi within weeks. The contract could be the largest signed for the IAF with the value upwards of Euro 7 billion (between Rs 56,000 and Rs 60,000 crore).
Sweden and Saab are now pitching the Gripen E for the Indian Air Force requirement of fighter aircraft. Unlike the Gripen C/D variant that was fielded in the trials in India, the Gripen E has a wider undercarriage that folds into its double-delta wings (and not its fuselage).
India believes that with a wider and deeper understanding with the US in recent weeks - as exemplified by the Lemoa - the possibility of acquiring weapons platforms with US-origin equipment has brightened. The Gripen E is powered by US-origin GE-414 engines. Many of its avionics components are also of US-origin.
The IAF is in the process of acquiring the LCA Tejas - said to be home-grown - that is of the same class as the Gripen in the sense that both are single-engined aircraft. The IAF has contracted 120 LCA Tejas with the GE 404 (US-origin) engine while the Gripen E has a more powerful GE 414 engine tailored for it.
Swedish defence minister Peter Hultqvist visited New Delhi and invited Parrikar to the Gripen-manufacturing facilities in June last year. The Swedes have illustrated their offer to develop capabilities by citing experiences in South Africa and Brazil where they have won contracts and are setting up facilities after training local technicians. Hultqvist also visited the facilities of Hindustan Aeronautics and the Bharat Electronics in Bangalore.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160909/jsp/nation/story_107171.jsp
Not since 1987 has India signed a major defence contract with Sweden. The last one was the Bofors howitzer that ran into controversy over charges of kickbacks during Rajiv Gandhi's regime.
Parrikar's scheduled visit this month would follow a five-day tour of Sweden in June by Indian Air Force Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha. Raha flew in a version of the single-engine Gripen fighter during his visit.
The maker of the Gripen, Swedish firm Saab, have proposed to set up capabilities in India to make the aircraft in India. It has also proposed technological cooperation in developing a Mark II version of the Tejas light combat aircraft.
Parrikar has said in the past that the government would take a decision on a new line of fighter aircraft by the end of the current fiscal.
The Gripen C/D and versions of the F-16 Fighting Falcon (made by the US Lockheed Martin), the F/A-E/F Super Hornet (made by Boeing, also of the US) did not make it through the trials conducted by the Indian Air Force for its tender for 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) since 2007. The Eurofighter Typhoon and the Rafale were "downselected". Rafale beat the Typhoon by quoting a lower price.
The tender was cancelled last year after Prime Minister Modi announced in Paris that India will purchase 36 Rafale aircraft through a government-to-government contract with France. The negotiations have been stalled on issue of price for some months.
But defence ministry sources say that a contract is now likely with a French delegation expected to arrive in Delhi within weeks. The contract could be the largest signed for the IAF with the value upwards of Euro 7 billion (between Rs 56,000 and Rs 60,000 crore).
Sweden and Saab are now pitching the Gripen E for the Indian Air Force requirement of fighter aircraft. Unlike the Gripen C/D variant that was fielded in the trials in India, the Gripen E has a wider undercarriage that folds into its double-delta wings (and not its fuselage).
India believes that with a wider and deeper understanding with the US in recent weeks - as exemplified by the Lemoa - the possibility of acquiring weapons platforms with US-origin equipment has brightened. The Gripen E is powered by US-origin GE-414 engines. Many of its avionics components are also of US-origin.
The IAF is in the process of acquiring the LCA Tejas - said to be home-grown - that is of the same class as the Gripen in the sense that both are single-engined aircraft. The IAF has contracted 120 LCA Tejas with the GE 404 (US-origin) engine while the Gripen E has a more powerful GE 414 engine tailored for it.
Swedish defence minister Peter Hultqvist visited New Delhi and invited Parrikar to the Gripen-manufacturing facilities in June last year. The Swedes have illustrated their offer to develop capabilities by citing experiences in South Africa and Brazil where they have won contracts and are setting up facilities after training local technicians. Hultqvist also visited the facilities of Hindustan Aeronautics and the Bharat Electronics in Bangalore.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160909/jsp/nation/story_107171.jsp
