Indian Fighter deal news

[GOOSE]

Great news, if true.

[hertsman]

There have been strong rumours that the Typhoon has won the contest doing the rounds on Indian news and aviation forums. However, part of the story was that Dassault and Cassidian had been summoned to the Indian MOD on Thursday, January 12 - which it seems did not happen. Therefore, the credibility of the leak may have dropped a notch or two, assuming it had any in the first place.

From what I have read on places like The DEW Line and others, the only thing you can be sure of in Indian defence procurements is delay, confusion and conflicting briefings by various government departments. Not that we have anything to be smug about when it comes to procurement of course.

So it's still wait and see, or perhaps wait, wait and see.

hertsman

[boff180]

I honestly think Rafale is going to win this one from a logistical point of view, the Indians have just made a massive order of Mica missiles.

With all the types of missile they operate, would they want to add another range of weapons such as Asraam, Meteor and IrisT plus western a2g weapons to their inventory. At a time of war, making sure the right missile gets to the right aircraft at the right base would be a nightmare!

Andy

[hertsman]

Boff180 has a point, India does seem to have a policy of operating multiple defence systems - eg Jaguar, Mig, Sukhoi, Hawk, Mirage, from a variety of suppliers. The MICA's were said to be for their Mirage 2000's, but Rafale is configured for this missile too.

I don't know if this is deliberate policy or has just happened that way. On the one hand multiple suppliers spreads risk; on the other it potentially carries procurement cost penalties and logistical management difficulties. It is certainly appears different from the RAF's doctrine which is to concentrate on Typhoon and F35 to the exclusion of all other front-line fighters, although I guess one expected benefit of the MMRCA project is to replace Jaguar and Mig 21.

I have looked at one or two Indian military aviation blogs, and it is interesting to see the various comments posted. Both fighters have their champions and detractors for a variety of reasons, but a fairly common theme has been the perceived superiority of the Rafale in the ground attack role, and the Typhoon's perceived strength in the air superiority mode. Worries about transfer of technology issues with US elements on Typhoon also get a mention as do manufacturing and logistical support. Some don't care as they think both fighters are pretty good, and some suspect the whole project will get delayed and maybe re-opened to the Russians and Americans again. I conclude Indian military aircraft buffs are not much different to us really - they all have a point of view. Nothing wrong with that.

hertsman

[hertsman]

The Indian publication, The Economic Times, has quoted senior air force sources as saying the decision is due within the next 10 days. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 500839.cms" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

hertsman

[hertsman]

Well 10 days is up.... and not a peep.

Indian defence blogs are in overdrive, many uncomplimentary about their Govt, MoD and procurement processes. More are uncomplimentary about Typhoon, which does not get a good hearing from many of these ordinary Joe's who don't rate it's multi-role credentials or cost. And some are just plain barking!

But none offer any real clue about what is about to be announced, if anything.

hertsman

[hertsman]

http://www.defensenews.com/article/2012 ... |FRONTPAGE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Well done Rafale, bad news for Typhoon.

hertsman

[RichC]

They made the right decision in my opinion.

[mrlongbow]

Good choice by India, on the other hand its a shame Typhoon wasnt fully multi-role like the Rafale, would have been a different outcome i guess. A certain part of me does think that Bae will have tried to rip the Indian government off a little, as it does with ours. If that was the case, they deserve to loose.

[hertsman]

You can tend to read results like this as Rafale good, Typhoon bad. This is not the case of course. These are both good fighters, with Rafale's multi-role credentials more proven than Typhoon right now, added to an overall lower price.

It is bad news for those British factories that would have picked up some work. Another significant Typhoon operator might have spurred further capability enhancing upgrades that could have benefited the RAF, so it's not good news on that front either.

But, on the face of it the Indian's appear to have made a logical choice so you can't blame them for that. They have also saved Rafale's bacon too so at least the production line will now be open long enough for the Royal Navy's order when it comes.

hertsman

[Viper28]

Rafale - Looks good, goes fast, nothing else matters.... works for me