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Game on: 6 vendors contest to supply IAF with 110 fighters
Kashmir Times. Dated: 7/7/2018 11:31:37 PM
NEW DELHI, July 7 (Agencies: Six of the world's premier fighter aircraft vendors -- American companies Boeing and Lockheed Martin, Russian Aircraft Corporation, Dassault of France, Swedish firm Saab and European consortium, Eurofighter GmbH -- have submitted responses to an Indian 'request for information' (RFI), kicking off the purchase of 110 fighters for the Indian Air Force.
The IAF had put out a detailed, 73-page RFI on April 6, giving 'original equipment manufacturers' (OEMs) and 'government sponsored export agencies' three months to submit their responses. Friday, July 6, was the last date.
There are four twin-engine aircraft in the fray: The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Block III, Eurofighter Typhoon, MiG-35 and the Rafale.
Two single-engine fighters have been offered: The F-16 Block 70 and Gripen E.
The flyaway cost of single engine fighters is estimated to be between $80 million and $90 million, with the larger, twin-engine fighters likely to be priced at $120 million to $160 million, according to industry analysts.
The RFI mandates that 85 per cent of the fighters must be built in India, and each of those would cost at least $20 million more.
That adds up to an overall contract price of $10.66 billion for the cheapest single-engine fighters, to $19.46 billion for the high-end, twin-engine fighters.
The cost of weaponry, spares, base infrastructure and simulators would be over and above that.
The defence ministry will now process the acquisition under the provisions of the Defence Procurement Procedure of 2016 (DPP-2016).