Aerospace Diary

Defense Aviation Week & Space Technology Aug 16 , 2010 , p. 25 Neelam Mathews New Delhi Printed headline: Fighter Choice Coming With flight trials complete, the downselect process is underway for the six candidate fighters in India’s Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (Mmrca), competition, with a $10 billion-plus payday for providing 126 aircraft. Observers differ about how long it will take to narrow the field—the MiG-35, Dassault Rafale, EADS Eurofighter, Saab Gripen, Boeing F/A-18F/F and Lockheed Martin F-16—to two finalists. Some speculate an announcement might come in just two weeks; others insist it will take much longer to evaluate the extensive technical reports that the tests have produced. Regardless, a commercial bidding process will follow the downselect, and the winner is to be named by the end of 2011. Trials included 643 test points. Results are being forwarded as tabulated data without a quantification of the level of compliance achieved, a senior Indian ...

News AWIN First Aug 12 , 2010 Neelam Mathews NEW DELHI A downselect announcement is expected within two weeks now that flight trials have concluded for the six candidate fighters in India’s Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) program, a competition with a $10 billion-plus payday for providing 126 aircraft. India is expected to pick two finalists among the MiG- 35, Dassault Rafale, EADS Eurofighter, Gripen, Boeing F/A-18 and Lockheed Martin F-16. A commercial bidding process will follow, with final selection expected by the end of 2011. Trials included the evaluation of 643 parameters, a senior air force official reports. “We have done an objective assessment and are taking into account the needs of national security,” he says. But he acknowledges that cost and politics will play a role. The importance of geopolitics has not been lost on the candidates’ advocates. French President Sarkozy’s visit to India this year is expected to be followed by a host of inducements, in...