NEW DELHI – European and US aviation giants Airbus and Boeing as well asRussia’s Ilyushin Aviation are vying for a $2 billion contract which isexpected in November or December. India’s defence ministry has twice (in2007 and 2010) solicited bids for the delivery of six refuelling aircraft.Both were later cancelled.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to issue a formal tender to procure sixmulti-role tanker transport (MRTT) aircraft after it had terminated a $2billion contract with Airbus Defence and Space in 2017. India issued arequest for information to the European corporation Airbus, US-based Boeingand Russia’s Ilyushin Aviation Complex last year.
The tender will include a mandatory direct defence offset clause and theministry will also take into account 30-year life cycle costs, in additionto costs associated with maintenance and spare parts before deciding thewinner.
“We plan to seek the Acceptance of Necessity for six new tankers inNovember-December. It will clear the way for sending request for proposals(RFPs) to foreign military contractors,” an Indian Air Force official wasquoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
The decision in this regard by India’s Defence Acquisition Council isexpected at some point in October, which will pave the way for a formaltender by end of this year. The Defence Acquisition Council is the defenceministry’s highest-level procurement body.
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India’s defence ministry has twice (2007 and 2010) released a tender forthe delivery of six refuelling aircraftlink butboth were cancelled at an advanced stage. The 2007 tender was cancelled atthe behest of India’s ministry of finance because of the high price tag,and the 2010 tender, under which it had shortlisted six Airbus A330 MRTTaircraft for the Indian Air Force, was cancelled due to proceduralirregularities.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) operates several Il-78MKI tankers delivered in2003-2006. In the last tender, Indian defence ministry had rejected thefour-engine Russian Ilyusin-78 aircraft in favour of the two-engineAirbus-330 MRTT, explaining it was cheaper in the long term when comparedwith its Russian competitor if life-cycle costs were to be considered inthe deal, Sputnik has reported.
