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US Defence major Boeing will unveil an advanced version of its F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter aircraft here at the biennial Aero India show starting Thursday. "We are going to display a mock up of the Super Hornet international roadmap aircraft at the air show," Boeing Defence, Space and Security India head Vivek Lall told PTI here. The International Super Hornet Roadmap features futuristic enhancements made in the aircraft for international customers and would also allow them to specify their requirements to be equipped in their fighters. The Super Hornet is in the race for supplying 126 Medium-Multirole Combat Aircraft (M-MRCA)...

A mocked up version of Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet will be among the many metal birds to debut at the upcoming Aero India 2011 Boeing, which is one of the contenders for the $10 billion medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) contract, will unveil a stealthier version of the F/A-18 at the air show to be held at the Air Force Station Yelahanka between February 9 and 13. Boeing’s vice-president for defence, space and security, Vivek Lall, said that one of the two F/A-18s which will be performing at the bi-annual show will be configured with conformal fuel tanks, enhanced performance...

India has no plans as of now to either join the US-led joint strike fighter (JSF) programme or buy the F-35 'Lightning-II ' fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) when it finally becomes operational. "We cannot have two types of FGFA. We have already launched preliminary work for our FGFA after inking the $295 million preliminary design contract (PDC) with Russia last month," said a top defence ministry official on Friday. This comes in the wake of comments made by a top Pentagon official, undersecretary of defence for acquisition, technology and logistics Ashton Carter, in Washington that the US was open to...

UK's Secretary of State for Defence Dr. Liam Fox visited the Eurofighter Typhoon Office in New Delhi today and met high-level company officials. Bernhard Gerwert, CEO of Cassidian Air Systems and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Eurofighter GmbH, briefed Dr. Liam Fox on the current status of the Eurofighter Typhoon campaign to win India’s tender for 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA). The UK Secretary of State for Defence is currently in India on a two day official visit. Bernhard Gerwert, CEO of Cassidian Air Systems, said: " We are grateful for the visit of the UK Secretary of...

Boeing is optimistic it will make the shortlist for India's medium multirole combat aircraft (MMRCA) requirement in 2011 with its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, says Rick McCrary, capture team manager for its Defense, Space & Security business unit. With India having completed in-country flight evaluations of the six candidate airframes, McCrary believes a shortlist will be issued next year to narrow the field, most likely after the Aero India air show in Bangalore. "I think it will be the heavy twins," he says, referring to the Super Hornet and rival offers with the Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon and RSK MiG-35. "They're...

Given the global buzz around the Indian Air Force’s (IAF’s) ongoing $10-billion procurement of 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA), my suggestion to scrap the process and, instead, go in for a straight buy of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightening II fighters is admittedly radical. But consider this: when the F-35 enters service, a couple of years from now, it will comfortably outclass every one of the six fighters that the IAF is currently evaluating. Thereafter, through the entire 30-40 year service life of the selected MMRCA, the IAF will fly a second-rung fighter when it could have gotten the best....

Even as the Americans, Europeans and Russians jostle to bag the ‘‘ mother of all defence deals’’ , India too is now pressing the throttle to ensure the contract to acquire 126 new fighters under the Rs 42,000-crore medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) project is inked by mid-2011 . “We will be signing the contract within a year. The flight evaluation report on the bidding aircraft will be ready by this month-end ,” Air Chief Marshal P V Naik said. The IAF, after all, wants to induct the first lot of these 126 fighters by 2014 to retain its combat...

While it’s too soon to predict a likely winner for India’s huge competition for 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA), the first indicators should be out as early as the next week when the technical evaluation committee’s report comes out. Reports state that this deal for 126 fighters will cost $10 billion, but there exist huge price variances between the offered fighters of varying capability. And this figure is a lifecycle cost – not an acquisition cost — so it is not clear if the number of fighters is fixed or whether the budget figure is. Half the fighters would...