bhagat
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NEW DELHI - India could award the $10 billion Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contract by the end of the year, according to the country's defense minister.
M.M. Pallam Raju, the minister of state for defense, said on the sidelines of a Jan. 19 conference here that the warplane contest could be decided by December. The conference was hosted by an industrial lobby group, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India
"I am hopeful of awarding it by the end of this year," Raju said.
The MMRCA program, for the purchase of 126 planes, is running behind schedule, The Indian Defence Ministry has made no formal announcement on the short-listing of aircraft after flight trials last year.
Raju said the ministry still has to carry out a comparative analysis of different vendors in terms of offset and transfer of technology offers before the financial bids are opened.
Earlier this month, a secret file pertaining to the MMRCA's offset program was lost and later recovered by Delhi police. An internal inquiry by the Defence Ministry has so far not named any individual behind the lapse, sources said.
Six aircraft vying for the MMRCA contract went through field evaluations, a series of flight trials and ground tests, in mid-2010. They include two U.S. fighter jets, Boeing's F/A-18 and Lockheed Martin's F-16, as well as the Rafale, built by France's Dassault; the MiG-35, built by RAC MiG of Russia; the Eurofighter Typhoon; and the Gripen, built by Saab of Sweden.
M.M. Pallam Raju, the minister of state for defense, said on the sidelines of a Jan. 19 conference here that the warplane contest could be decided by December. The conference was hosted by an industrial lobby group, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India
"I am hopeful of awarding it by the end of this year," Raju said.
The MMRCA program, for the purchase of 126 planes, is running behind schedule, The Indian Defence Ministry has made no formal announcement on the short-listing of aircraft after flight trials last year.
Raju said the ministry still has to carry out a comparative analysis of different vendors in terms of offset and transfer of technology offers before the financial bids are opened.
Earlier this month, a secret file pertaining to the MMRCA's offset program was lost and later recovered by Delhi police. An internal inquiry by the Defence Ministry has so far not named any individual behind the lapse, sources said.
Six aircraft vying for the MMRCA contract went through field evaluations, a series of flight trials and ground tests, in mid-2010. They include two U.S. fighter jets, Boeing's F/A-18 and Lockheed Martin's F-16, as well as the Rafale, built by France's Dassault; the MiG-35, built by RAC MiG of Russia; the Eurofighter Typhoon; and the Gripen, built by Saab of Sweden.
.. nother 11 months??
