the government has decided to re-float the tender for acquiring six new mid-air refuelling aircraft for fighter jets after scrapping the virtually finalised $1.5-billion contract with European aerospace major EADS.
‘‘The RFP (request for proposal) will be re-floated and will go EADS, Boeing (US) and Ilyushin (Russian), among others, for a global competition now,’’ said a defence ministry official on Wednesday.
Defence minister A K Antony, on his part, told Parliament last month that the finance minister had ‘‘expressed certain reservations relating to the competitiveness of the bids and the reasonableness of the price’’ for the IAF project to acquire the six new flight refueller aircraft. IAF had selected the Airbus A-330 MRTT (multi-role tanker transport) aircraft of EADS after a thorough evaluation quite some time back but the file was stuck in the finance ministry, which felt they were overpriced.
With Antony not intervening in the matter, the government has now cancelled the entire acquisition process. IAF, incidentally, was not too keen to buy more Ilyushin-78, six of which it had acquired from Uzbekistan a few years ago, since it said the A-330s better met its tanker requirements.
Be that as it may, the four-engined IL-78s, which can each carry over 75 tonnes of fuel to tank up fighters during flight, have proved to be a major force-multiplier for IAF.
IL-78s have made it possible for IAF fighters like the multi-role Mirage-2000s, the deep penetration Jaguars and the air-dominance Sukhoi-30MKIs to operate with extended ranges and flight-times.
Sukhois, for instance, have a cruising speed range of 3,200 km and can carry around eight tonnes of armaments. This strategic capability gets a further boost with air-to-air refuelling by IL-78 tankers, enhancing their radius of operations by more than double, making it possible for them to strike targets deep inside China.
Incidentally, Pakistan inducted the first of its four mid-air refuellers, contracted from Ukraine, just last month.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
DTN News: India Cancels Contract For Airbus A330 MRTT Midair Refuellers
DTN News: India Cancels Contract For Airbus A330 MRTT Midair Refuellers
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI, India - January 07, 2010: In a setback to IAF’s plans to further boost its ‘strategic reach’ capabilities, 
the government has decided to re-float the tender for acquiring six new mid-air refuelling aircraft for fighter jets after scrapping the virtually finalised $1.5-billion contract with European aerospace major EADS.
‘‘The RFP (request for proposal) will be re-floated and will go EADS, Boeing (US) and Ilyushin (Russian), among others, for a global competition now,’’ said a defence ministry official on Wednesday.
Defence minister A K Antony, on his part, told Parliament last month that the finance minister had ‘‘expressed certain reservations relating to the competitiveness of the bids and the reasonableness of the price’’ for the IAF project to acquire the six new flight refueller aircraft. IAF had selected the Airbus A-330 MRTT (multi-role tanker transport) aircraft of EADS after a thorough evaluation quite some time back but the file was stuck in the finance ministry, which felt they were overpriced.
With Antony not intervening in the matter, the government has now cancelled the entire acquisition process. IAF, incidentally, was not too keen to buy more Ilyushin-78, six of which it had acquired from Uzbekistan a few years ago, since it said the A-330s better met its tanker requirements.
Be that as it may, the four-engined IL-78s, which can each carry over 75 tonnes of fuel to tank up fighters during flight, have proved to be a major force-multiplier for IAF.
IL-78s have made it possible for IAF fighters like the multi-role Mirage-2000s, the deep penetration Jaguars and the air-dominance Sukhoi-30MKIs to operate with extended ranges and flight-times.
Sukhois, for instance, have a cruising speed range of 3,200 km and can carry around eight tonnes of armaments. This strategic capability gets a further boost with air-to-air refuelling by IL-78 tankers, enhancing their radius of operations by more than double, making it possible for them to strike targets deep inside China.
Incidentally, Pakistan inducted the first of its four mid-air refuellers, contracted from Ukraine, just last month.
the government has decided to re-float the tender for acquiring six new mid-air refuelling aircraft for fighter jets after scrapping the virtually finalised $1.5-billion contract with European aerospace major EADS.
‘‘The RFP (request for proposal) will be re-floated and will go EADS, Boeing (US) and Ilyushin (Russian), among others, for a global competition now,’’ said a defence ministry official on Wednesday.
Defence minister A K Antony, on his part, told Parliament last month that the finance minister had ‘‘expressed certain reservations relating to the competitiveness of the bids and the reasonableness of the price’’ for the IAF project to acquire the six new flight refueller aircraft. IAF had selected the Airbus A-330 MRTT (multi-role tanker transport) aircraft of EADS after a thorough evaluation quite some time back but the file was stuck in the finance ministry, which felt they were overpriced.
With Antony not intervening in the matter, the government has now cancelled the entire acquisition process. IAF, incidentally, was not too keen to buy more Ilyushin-78, six of which it had acquired from Uzbekistan a few years ago, since it said the A-330s better met its tanker requirements.
Be that as it may, the four-engined IL-78s, which can each carry over 75 tonnes of fuel to tank up fighters during flight, have proved to be a major force-multiplier for IAF.
IL-78s have made it possible for IAF fighters like the multi-role Mirage-2000s, the deep penetration Jaguars and the air-dominance Sukhoi-30MKIs to operate with extended ranges and flight-times.
Sukhois, for instance, have a cruising speed range of 3,200 km and can carry around eight tonnes of armaments. This strategic capability gets a further boost with air-to-air refuelling by IL-78 tankers, enhancing their radius of operations by more than double, making it possible for them to strike targets deep inside China.
Incidentally, Pakistan inducted the first of its four mid-air refuellers, contracted from Ukraine, just last month.
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