Boeing, Dassault racing for Rs 50,000-cr Navy
deal for 57 fighter jets
Boeing has pitched its FA-18 aircraft, while
Dassault is building case for its Rafale jet
Arindam Majumder | New
Delhi June 10, 2017 Last Updated at
02:05 IST
American aerospace giant Boeing and France's
Dassault Aviation are among the four entities that have responded to he Indian
Navy’s 'Request for Interest (RFI)' to provide 57 multi-role carrier borne
fighters, industry sources said.
The other two are Sweden's SAAB and
Rosoboronexport of Russia. While Boeing has pitched its F/A-18 Super Hornet,
Dassault has briefed the navy on its Rafale. SAAB has offered the maritime
variant of its Gripen single-engine fighter jet. Naval Chief Sunil Lanba
confirmed the development. "We will examine the RFI and take it
forward," he told this newspaper. The deal is valued over Rs 50,000 crore.
Sources say it is now mainly between Boeing’s
FA-18 and Dassault’s Rafale, as the navy would prefer a twin-engine aircraft
against SAAB’s single-engine Gripen. “While the navy did not specify a variant,
there is a clear preference for a twin-engine model,” a senior industry
executive said.
As it had earlier done a deal with the Indian
Air Force (IAF), Dassault is seen as having an upper hand. The government
signed an $8.7-billion deal with France last year for 36 Rafale warplanes for
the IAF. Dassault, defence ministry sources say, has argued it makes sense to
equip IAF and navy with the same platform, for better logistics, maintenance
and industrial support. "It would help in cost control like manpower
training, pilot training, simulators and make it easier to get spare parts,”
sources said.
All the four companies refused to comment on
queries sent to them.
“Dassault with joint venture partner Reliance
has a Make in India proposal already in place and envisages all 57 aircraft to
be delivered from its facility at Mihan (near Nagpur),” a company executive
said on condition of anonymity.
The navy had on January 25 put out an RFI for
the 57 fighter planes, giving manufacturers four months to respond. In the
technical evaluation, the foreign companies had to answer queries on technical
parameters, budgetary estimates, likely level of indigenisation, transfer of
technology and schedule of deliveries after a contract is inked.
Original post: .business-standard.com
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