DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: Combat Aircraft Bids Opening Soon....NSI News Source Info # 2259

DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: Combat Aircraft Bids Opening Soon....NSI News Source Info # 2259

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada /

NEW DELHI, India - July 22, 2011: The commercial bids for the ‘mother of all defence deals’ - for 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA), valuing over $10 billion, will be opened before July 31.

However, the winner of the contract - French Dassault or European Eurofighter - will be known only when the IAF finds out the lowest bidder based on various factors such as life cycle maintenance costs.

Highly-placed sources have indicated that the bids for the most-awaited tender will be opened within the next 10 days, before present IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal P V Naik demits his office.

“The bids’ envelope will be opened soon. But, the lowest bidder will not emerge immediately,” sources said and added: “We will be considering nine parameters, including life cycle cost, maintenance cost, cost of spare parts and so forth. The process is very tedious and will take couple of months before a price tag is put on the two down selected aircrafts.”

The opening of the bids will be followed by commercial negotiations around September with the vendors before the signing of the contract. “The contract negotiations will be based on 538 parameters based on which the IAF has arrived at a reasonable cost for the contract,” pointed the sources.

After a gruelling two years of flight trial in different regions, IAF had zeroed on the Eurofighter from the European consortium EADS and Rafale from French Dassault. Earlier there were four more contenders, including two from the US - Lockheed Martin’s F-16IN Super Viper and Boeing’s F-18 Super Hornet - Swedish SAAB’s Gripen and Russian MiG-35.

The sheer size of the order has made it one of the most coveted defence contracts of the recent times and all the countries have pulled the strings - politically, economically and strategically - to swing the decision in their favour.

The aircraft will help the IAF, the fourth largest air force in the world, to contain its depleting strength of the fighter squadrons which has come down to 32.5 from the sanctioned strength of 42 squadrons.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2011/07/dtn-news-india-defense-news-combat.html