India Warplane Order
So, this is to replace their Mig-21s and Jaguars - second tier not first tier aircraft. So I doubt Rafale/Typhoon/F-18 will be selected. If they're keen to diversify their suppliers, and having just ordered a shed load of SU-30MKs, I have to wonder what they've selected. If they go for the Mig-35 (Mig-29 OVT) it would seem to throw out the whole idea of diversifying altogether.
Any rumours out there? F-16? Rafale? Mig-35?
DefenseNews: India Completes Talks on Huge Warplane Deal: Official
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, NEW DELHI
India has completed negotiations over an order for 126 fighter jets that could cost up to nine billion dollars, Defense Minister A.K. Antony said June 18. But the minister did not say which of the Russian, U.S. and European rivals were best placed to win what arms industry sources have described as the biggest fighter plane contract in 15 years.
According to industry sources, the leading contenders are the Russian-built MiG-35 and MiG-29, Lockheed Martin’s F-16 and Boeing’s F-18. Also in the race to replace India’s aged fleet of MiG-21s are Eurofighter’s Typhoon, Saab’s Gripen and Dassault’s Rafale.
”All negotiations are over and now it is a question of formalities,” Antony told reporters on the sidelines of a commanders’ meeting in the Indian capital. ”The defense acquisition committee will be meeting within a fortnight and decide on the Request for Proposals (RFP),” the minister added, referring to the body that has the final say on who should get the contract.
Senior defense ministry officials also confirmed the comments, saying that “no further discussions are necessary in the deal. We are now hopeful the contract will be offered within a month’s time or so,” one of the officials told AFP.
The deal will be the first time India, now the biggest arms purchaser among emerging nations, has bought combat aircraft after evaluating rival bids through a global tender.
The country was once a captive defense-equipment market for the former Soviet Union and later Russia — which provided 70 percent of India’s military hardware — but is now seen as trying to broaden its military suppliers.
The two U.S. contenders, Lockheed Martin and Boeing, are trying to latch on to warming relations between New Delhi and Washington, who were once on opposite sides of the Cold War divide.
The two countries signed a landmark deal in 2005 that will allow India access to U.S. civil nuclear technology, barred since the country exploded its first nuclear bomb in 1974.