Tag: Rafale

IAF officer fired for bribery

Wing Commander Alok Kumar Thakur was convicted by court martial for allegedly accepting bribes from the representative of French aircraft manufacturer Dassault in a reported sting during the Bangalore Air Show in 2011.

Aircraft at Aero India

Aero India 2013 to be held from February 06 to 10 in Bangalore will include participation by the following aircraft. 1. Pilatus PC-12 NG 2. DRDO-ADA Embraer EMB-145I 3. Embraer Legacy 650 4. Embraer Lineage 1000 5. Army Aviation ALH Dhruv (7) 6.HAL ALH WSI (3) 7. HAL LCH (2) 9. HAL Dornier 228-202(K) 10.…

Airbus A-330 MRTT for the IAF

StratPost was invited to visited Airbus Military facilities at Getafe in Spain last week to get a sense of the aircraft acquisition under consideration by the IAF, after the A-330 MRTT was announced as the preferred bid in the refueler competition. Here’s a look at what goes into the aircraft.

IAF looks to replace crashed Mirage fighter jets

Although the case for the acquisition of the two single-engine trainers is still at a preliminary stage, the IAF is ‘desirous’ of getting their ‘numbers up from 49 to 51’ again and is planning to make a pitch for the aircraft to the Ministry of Defense.

Why fighter operating costs matter

The IAF evaluation of the six competing aircraft for the MMRCA contest took into account the issue of life-cycle cost, which could be loosely understood to mean cost of ownership over the period of operation of the aircraft. This was because it was felt that the true cost of owning a fleet of aircraft was not reflected in the purchase price alone.

French drive hard bargain on Indian MMRCA: Report

A recent French media report offers insight into the French position in the negotiations with the Indian defense ministry on the MMRCA fighter aircraft purchase by the IAF. Here’s an edited translation of the report and an analysis of what it could mean.

Top Gun Saraswat

DRDO head, Dr. V.K. Saraswat, took a backseat ride in the Swedish Saab’s Gripen C/D aircraft on the sidelines of the Aerospace Forum held at Linköping, Sweden, last week.

44 facts about the MMRCA

StratPost tweeted facts about the Indian Air Force (IAF) tender for 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) and the participating aircraft last week. Here they are on a single page, for easy reference. And please feel free to add any more in the comments. They will be updated on this page.

Rafale wins MMRCA: The Cost

A cost escalation of 50 percent (INR 63,000 crore, in this case) or more, requires approval again from the Ministry of Finance, before the Defense Acquisitions Council (DAC) can proceed with it. With the cost of the tender for India safely ranging from INR 83,000 crore to 1,25,000 crore, the revision of the estimated expenditure on the MMRCA would require the approval of the finance ministry.

Rafale wins MMRCA

The French Dassault fighter aircraft Rafale has been selected to be the Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) of the Indian Air Force (IAF). Dassault beat the four-nation consortium’s Eurofighter on price, with the fighter being identified as L1, or the lowest technically qualified bid. StratPost understands that Dassault has been issued a letter from…

Reality Check: US F-35 offer report

The US offer of information on the F-35 to India in a report made to the country’s Senate Armed Services Committee comes curiously on the eve of the opening of the commercial bids of the IAF’s MMRCA competition.