India shortlisted European companies for an $11 billion 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) fighter jet contract, eventually rejecting U.S. firms – Lockheed Martin’s F-16 and Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet.
According to a defence ministry source, Lockheed Martin’s F-16 and Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet did not meet the Indian Air Force’s technical requirements.
The rejection comes despite hectic lobbying from President Barack Obama during a high-profile visit to India five months ago. The rejection apparently had its first casualty with the unexpected resignation of the U.S. ambassador to India, Timothy Roemer, who however cited “personal, professional, and family considerations” in a statement on Thursday.
The U.S. embassy in India declined to comment if Timothy Roemer’s resignation was linked to the jet decision. Roemer said in a separate statement on India’s decision: “We are…deeply disappointed by this news. We look forward to continuing to grow and develop our defense partnership with India.”
The ministry of defence (MoD) sent out letters on April 26 to all six competing vendors – US’ Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet IN and Lockheed Martin’s F-16IN Super Viper, Gripen’s Next Generation (NG) from Sweden’s Saab, European consortium EADS’ Eurofighter Typhoon, French Rafale from Dassault Aviation and the Russian MiG-35 – while asking only the two short-listed companies for further negotiations.
An MoD source said the rejection of the four contenders was on technical grounds and that the commercial bids of both the short-listed companies would now be opened. Whoever is finally selected will be retained for further price negotiations, as per the seventh and eighth steps of India’s Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) under the defence ministry. Benchmarking of prices is being done now, after which the final decision will be taken.
According to a Reuters report, India also ruled out Sweden’s Saab JAS-39 and Russia’s MiG-35, departing from a long-running tradition of relying mainly on Russian aircraft for its Air Force.
Eurofighter, which makes the Typhoon fighter jet shortlisted for the order, is a four-nation consortium of EADS , representing Germany and Spain, Britain’s BAE Systems and Italy’s Finmeccanica. Dassault Aviation makes the Rafale.
Apart from US President Barack Obama, the order has been keenly contested by global defence firms and has seen lobbying from leaders like Britain’s David Cameron, France’s Nicholas Sarkozy and Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev.
Boeing said it was disappointed with the decision and would seek a “debrief” from the Indian Air Force before considering its options.
A New Delhi-based spokeswoman for Lockheed said it was told by U.S. authorities that Washington would respond to the Indian defence ministry’s letter on the competition.
Saab, in a statement from Sweden, said its plane was not shortlisted for the bid. Dassault and Eurofighter declined comment.
India is the world’s largest arms importer, accounting for 9 percent of the global arms trade between 2006 and 2010, according to data from Swedish think-tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Its defence budget for the year to March 2011 rose 11.6 percent to $36.28 billion, but is still less that half of that officially spent by long-term rival China.
It plans to spend $50 billion over the next five years to upgrade its military, which is largely made-up of Soviet-era equipment, to counter the rising might of China and threats from Pakistan.
The Indian Air Force, which mainly relies on Russian aircraft and some French Mirage jets, is looking to deploy the new weaponry near the western and north-eastern frontiers to tackle any threat from the two nations, the Reuters report added.
