Posted on 11/04/2011 8:15:53 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
India opens bids for combat planes
India on Friday opened the commercial bids for the proposed deal to acquire 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft for the IAF
Aman Malik, Elizabeth Roche & Tarun Shukla
New Delhi: India on Friday opened the commercial bids for the proposed deal to acquire 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) for the Indian Air Force (IAF), but didn’t announce which vendor was lower on unit costs.
Six vendors—Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. of the US, RSK MiG of Russia, Dassault Aviation SA of France, Saab AB of Sweden and European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS), a consortium of companies from Germany, Spain, Italy and the UK—had been in the running originally.
In April, the ministry of defence shortlisted Dassault’s Rafale and EADS’ Eurofighter Typhoon.
The bids from the two contenders were opened in the presence of representatives of the defence ministry, IAF and the companies, defence ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar said.
The lowest bidder is likely to be determined in six-eight weeks, after which contract negotiations will begin. The lowest bidder will be determined after considering life-cycle costs for both vendors.
“With the opening of bids, the process for selecting the lowest bidder has begun,” Kar said. He added that during the meeting, both vendors were notified about the other’s cost per unit. He, however, declined to comment on the figures, citing confidentiality clauses.
Kar also declined to comment on where each vendor stood in relation to the benchmark price determined by the defence ministry. Benchmarking refers to the process by which the reasonable cost range of acquisition is determined. The defence ministry had
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Thanks sukhoi-30mki.
In your opinion, Sukhoi, who will win, and why?
It’s extremely difficult to take a call now and I think the Indian Air force would have preferred it that way after shortlisting these two aircraft. A significant price difference in unit price would have led to Dassault taking the cake without having to concede much in terms of technology or offsets.
A purely political decision would arguably favour the Eurofighter more so if it’s offsets package is more extensive (as expected). The Rafale does have some practical advantages though-commonality with the Mirage-2000 upgrade programme and possibly the Indian Tejas Mk2.If the government plays its cards right-it can get a deal of the century, or it will end in a mess.
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