Watch: India's next Western origin fighter jet- US F-16 or Sweden's Gripen?

NEW DELHI: The competition for providing India with a single engine fighter jet is now between US defence major Lockheed Martin and Swedish arms company, Saab.

India has already sent requests to US and Sweden, asking for details of single engine fighter jets in service which can be offered for a technology transfer project- these are Lockheed Martin F 16 and the Saab Gripen.

In August last year, Lockheed Martin had said it has offered to India to move its lone production line of the latest version of the F 16- Block 70 to India from Texas to meet the Indian and global requirement.

Saab Gripen fighter jets assault mission




On Tuesday, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said that a new production line for another single engine fighter jet, besides the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft ( LCA), will be started in India. This will be done under the Ministry of Defence’s cornerstone Make in India policy, the Strategic Partnership (SP) model.

Parrikar said the SP model will be finalised by January end. Under the model, the government is to select private Indian firms to exclusively manufacture critical military equipments such as aircrafts, warships and armoured vehicles for a specified period. The model was proposed by the Dhirendra Singh Committee in July, 2015. The Defence Ministry then formed an expert committee headed by former DRDO chief, VK Aatre, to formulate the criteria for selection of strategic partners. In April last year, the MOD made the Aatre report public.

Parrikar disclosed that the government will first select an Indian private sector company that would partner with a Western aerospace company to produce the much needed replacements for the MiG 21 fleet. The Indian company will be identified through the Aatre committee model.

Parrikar said the criteria for selection would be the amount of technology transfer that the western partner is willing to provide and the financial package on offer. He said once a product has been shortlisted, an intergovernmental agreement would also be signed.

India already has a single engine fighter aircraft, the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) has already been inducted in the Indian Air Force (IAF). A production line or eight aircrafts are being manufactured every year. He said this capacity will be increased to 16 a year.

Parrikar explained that the Tejas has been inducted in the Indian Air Force and a production line or eight aircrafts are being manufactured every year. He said this capacity will be increased to 16 a year.

The previous IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal (retd) Arup Raha before his retirement on December 31 last yeaer said "Over the next 10 years, we must have 200-250 aircraft. It has to be balanced out. In the heavy weight spectrum, we have enough. But in the medium weight category, we need to have more. Yes, about 200 will be very good."