IAF plans to accelerate medium jets procurement

The Air Force is looking to fast-track procurement of the much-needed medium, multirole fighter jets and aims to have the first of the new aircraft in service in five years after a round of accelerated trials involving seven likely contenders.

The competition to supply 114 new fighter jets to India under the Multi Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) programme is set to get underway, with the Air Force determined to minimise the selection time. Sources said that since most of the contenders for the programme have already been tested by the Air Force in the past for a similar, earlier procurement, only limited trials are likely to be carried out.

This would shorten the selection time as extensive trials can take even up to two years if there are a large number of contenders. Sources said that of the seven likely contenders for the mega, multi-billion dollar contract, six have already been tested in varied conditions by the Air Force. Only the F15 EX, a new offering by Boeing, has to be tested against the Indian requirements.


Other contenders that have already been evaluated by IAF include the French Dassault Rafale, European Eurofighter, Sweden's Saab Gripen, American F 21 and F/A 18 Super Hornet fighter jets and the Russian MiG 35. Sources said if any of these contenders have upgraded capabilities to demonstrate, those could also be evaluated during the limited trials.