Rafale still in MMRCA Race

The Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major implicitly confirmed the French Rafale fighter to be still in the running for the the $ 11 billion 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) tender, while stating the Technical Evaluations of the six contenders deal had been completed.

“The Technical Evaluation has been completed for all six. We expect (the report of ) the Technical Evaluation Committee (of the Ministry of Defense) to be complete very soon. The Field Trials will begin two-three months after that,” he said, indicating they may begin around October or November, while clarifying, “It is difficult to say for sure as to the schedule.”

He also said the IAF had also worked out the modalities of the Flight Trials and parameters upon which the aircraft would be tried. “The IAF has been earmarking test teams and patters in which we are going to conduct the test. There will be representatives from the Ministry of Defense as well as the DRDO (Defense Research Development Organization) who will also be involved,” he said.

The six contenders for the contract are Lockheed Martin’s F-16IN Super Viper, Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet, Russia’s MiG-35, Saab’s GripenIN, EADS’ Eurofighter Typhoon and French Dassault’s Rafale, which had been earlier reported to have crashed from the race.