India scraps global tender for higher jets.. again!
1st April 2019, 01:16
2019 APR 01
NEW DELHI: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today informed the Upper House that the Centre has withdrawn the multi-billion dollar tender for the 110 Global Tender for Combat Aircrafts which included previous contenders for the Medium Muti-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA).
In 2015, the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre scrapped the US$ 20 billion (approx INR 140 billion) MMRCA project. Instead, it opted to buy 36 Rafale aircraft from French defence manufacturing giant Dassault through a government-to-government contract with France. The ~58,000 crore deal has triggered a major political controversy, with the Opposition alleging corruption and wrongdoing in the purchase of the aircraft which the government has vehemently denied.
Strapped with an ageing and depleting fighter fleet, IAF had floated a Request for Information (RFI) – a global tender – to buy 110 fighters. Of the 110 jets, around 85% will have to be built in India under the ‘Make in India’ programme in partnership with an Indian manufacturer under the Strategic Partnership (SP) route. This third cancellation is expected to jeopardize Indian Air Force Readiness. When asked, Defence Minister Sitharaman stated that due to recent experiences against Pakistani incursion, the Indian Government will need to re-evaluate aircraft that could contend with Pakistan's latest fighter acquisitions.
I guess this is as close as we will get to the Indian defence minister accepting that the IAF got it's fat arse well and truly kicked in.