NEW DELHI: India has launched the world’s biggest hunt for fighter jets in recent years. From single-engine to twin-engine, global players have been invited to build nearly 300 fighter jets here on the basis of foreign technology under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India campaign.
Though all eyes are on Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to announce its much-awaited strategic partnership model, the main focus will be towards developing an indigenous defence industry.
In view of India’s biggest hunt for its fighter jets inventory, all defence majors showcased their best products in Aero India in Bengaluru from February 14 to 18. In the category of singleengine jets, Sweden’s Saab and America’s Lockheed Martin have offered to shift their production line of fighter jets, the Gripen-E and F-16 (Block 70) respectively, to India, if chosen by the Indian government.
While aviation giant Boeing pitched its F-A/18 Hornet, Sweden’s Saab AB also offered the naval version of its Gripen fighter to the Indian Navy with an offer to build it in India. However, last week US President Donald Trump asked US-based Lockeed Martin—which makes F-16s—to take a “fresh look” at its proposal to set up a production line in India for combat jets.
The IAF announced its fresh fighter programme last year, months after it signed a contract to buy 36 Rafale warplanes from France for $8.85 billion. IAF placed a requirement of over 200 single-engine fighter jets to replace its aging fleet of Russian MiG-21s, which have been in service for nearly 50 years.
The IAF is operating with a depleting fleet of 34 squadrons compared to the sanctioned strength of 42, and it is desperately eyeing to fill the shortage of its fighter jet strength in the multi-medium role category. In 2015, the government had scrapped the decade-old multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) contract and finalised 36 Rafale jets in place of 126 MMRCA to meet the urgent requirement of the IAF.
Last month the Navy invited global manufacturers to pitch for 57 planes for its aircraft carriers, a multi-billion dollar order that the government had hoped would go to the state-run producers of indigenously designed and developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas.
Earlier, Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba said the sea version (LCA Navy) was “not up to the mark” and it could not take off from an aircraft carrier once weapons were loaded. The Indian Navy has 45 MIG-29K jets for operations from INS Vikramaditya and from the under construction aircraft carrier .
The proposed procurement for multi-role carrier-borne fighter jets comes after 10 years when the Navy decided to buy MIG-29Ks from Russia for INS Vikramaditya. The aircraft carrier was also built by Russia. INS Vikrant is now under construction at Cochin and is likely to be inducted by 2019.