Third time’s the charm? India again attempts to buy midair refuelers

NEW DELHI ― India has begun its third global attempt to buy six midair refueling aircraft by issuing a request for information to European corporation Airbus, Boeing of the U.S. and Ilyushin Aviation Complex of Russia, according to an Indian Air Force official.

The previous two attempts failed due to the high cost of the shortlisted midair refueling platforms.

The Air Force official declined to comment on how this new attempt will be different.

The overseas companies were asked to submit their respective responses by March 30. Afterward, a formal tender will be issued.

This new tender will have a 30 percent mandatory direct defense offset clause as part of the $2 billion-plus program. The tender will also take into account a 30-year life cycle costs, in addition to maintenance and space support costs.

An executive with one of the foreign defense companies participating in the program warned that if the Indian Ministry of Defence does not simplify its selection criteria, ”this deal is never going to happen.”

RELATED

Calm down everyone, there’s no plan to put an F-35 production line in India

If it sounded unlikely that Lockheed Martin would build an F-35 production line in India, that's because it is.

By Valerie Insinna and Vivek Raghuvanshi

Per the MoD’s procurement rules, selection is based on the lowest submitted price, which is not the always the best solution, he added.

The Indian Air Force currently operates six Russian IL-78 midair refueling platforms acquired in 2003, which are used to increase the range of the service’s fleet of Mirage 2000H, Jaguar and Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters.

However, the IL-78 fleet faces reliability issues and continuous maintenance support.

More In Air Warfare

Lockheed to supply Australia with air battle management system

Overhauling Australia’s overhead defenses is expected to generate hundreds of local jobs as well as open the door to a multibillion-dollar export market.

Defense Innovation Unit prepares to execute $800 million funding boost

DIU Director Doug Beck said he doesn’t foresee any issues with quickly putting to work the $983 million in FY-24 funding Congress provided in March.

Army may swap AI bill of materials for simpler ‘baseball cards’

"We know innovation's happening in the open-source environment," said the Army's Bharat Patel. "We also know who's contributing to the open source."

How L3Harris is shoring up its small satellite supply chain

The president of L3Harris’ space systems sector, recently sat down with C4ISRNET to discuss the challenges of developing a diverse yet mature supply base.

From customer to sanctioned ‘proliferator,’ drones extend Iran’s reach

Iranian contractors and government officials have picked up on market demand, frequenting arms expos and other events in Russia, Iraq, Qatar and more.