The hurdles have been cleared from the IAF’s quest for acquisition of 126 multi-role combat aircraft (MRCA) that was in pending since long. The deal has been given the name as the mother of all defence deals.

According to the report, the request for proposal to be issued to the contenders of the deal. The report says that there are six contenders in the race who are eager to bag the deal worth of more than $6.5 billion.

The Defence Minister A K Antony, who also chaired the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) may approve the request for proposals (RFP) probably on Friday. In case of any delay in the meeting, the RFP would be issued in July.

The report says further that around 20 fighters will be bought off-the-shelf. The remaining will be made in India through transfer of technology. The manufacturing will have some Israeli avionics also to make the IAF on the same grid of fighters as Sukhoi-30MKIs, Jaguars and MiG-21 ‘Bisons’.

Further, there will be an option that apart from 126 fighters, India may go to option for 60-65 more jets if required in the future. And now, the race is on and the six contenders have been pushing each other to get the deal. They are such as the French Rafale (Dassault), Eurofighter Typhoon (consortium of British, German, Spanish and Italian companies) and American F/A-18 “Super Hornet” (Boeing) in the 25-30-tonne class.

They would take around six months to respond to the RFPs and would submit the separate technical and commercial bids in separate sealed envelopes. The ministry would evaluate the technical bids and then the field evaluation trials of the short listed fighters will be done.

Later, the commercial bids will be opened by a TOC (technical oversight committee) and CNC (commercial negotiation committee). The ministry of finance and Cabinet Committee on Security will take the final decision and the process would be completed in more than two years.

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