Indian Air Force processing case for buying 6 air-to-air refullers

[MINK]

Indian Air Force processing case for buying 6 air-to-air refullers

NEW DELHI: Indian Air Force is processing a case for procuring six air-to-air refullers from the global market, Defence Minister A K Antony told Rajya Sabha today.

In written reply to a question on purchase of mid-air refullers, he said, "IAF is processing a case for procurement of six air-to-air refullers from the global market."

On its likely induction schedule, he said, "The Defence Procurement Procedure envisages a timeline of about two and half years from the date of issue of request for proposal to conclusion of contract in such multi-vendor cases.

"The delivery schedule is expected to be between 36 and 51 months from the date of signing the contract."

Replying to a question on shortage of aircraft, Antony said, "Procurement and induction of different types of helicopters required for operational and transportation tasks is underway."

He said that the requirement of aircraft including helicopters is periodically reviewed and steps are taken to ensure that the operational requirement of the IAF are met.

In his reply to a question on the steps taken by the government to simplify the procurement process, he said, "To counter systemic and institutional delays, procedures are continuously refined on the basis of experience gained and feedback received during the procurement process."

Indian Air Force processing case for buying 6 air-to-air refullers - The Economic Times

 

[Tshering22]

Seriously, we really need to take a look at slicing our buying procedures by at least 70%. At least 70% of the processes that are currently needed in military purchase planning are useless and outdated to probably even pre-Soviet era.

 

[ali.jishan786]

Indian Ilyushin Il-78 getting older and older........on the other hand China and pakistan also operate few Ilyushin Il-78....
Indeed.....India urgently needs aerial refuelers........acc. to me...most perfect aircraft in my sense is "Airbus A330 MRTT"

we should go for Airbus A330 MRTT...

Aerial refueler variants of Lockheed HC-130 and C-17 also available.........



Airbus A330 MRTT

 

[BLUE_ Pheonix]

Indian Ilyushin Il-78 getting older and older........on the other hand China and pakistan also operate few Ilyushin Il-78....
Indeed.....India urgently needs aerial refuelers........acc. to me...most perfect aircraft in my sense is "Airbus A330 MRTT"

we should go for Airbus A330 MRTT...

Aerial refueler variants of Lockheed HC-130 and C-17 also available.........



Airbus A330 MRTT

remember what happend last time when iaf selected airbus..........this babus are a*****e's

 

[faithfulguy]

It should be C-130 as India is getting more of those for military transport. Also, they can land any where.

 

[T90TankGuy]

the final decision what ever it may be will be welcome . for the fleet we have we need at least 20 refullers.

 

[VSS]

It should be C-130 as India is getting more of those for military transport. Also, they can land any where.

Will you ever suggest anything non american???

 

[pmukherjee]

It is not a question of whether it is American or non american. What matters is what we need. The IL-78/IL-78Ms use the drogue and probe method for fuel transfer which are more suitable for fighters, They can refuel 3/4 fighters simultaneously. However, we have large transport aircraft like C-17s and C-130Js which use the flying boom and receptacle method which can transfer far greater amounts of fuel in the same time but also need special training for boom operator. The booms can also refuel fighters but the fuel flow rate has to be reduced and it is not the most ideal way of refueling a fighter, moreover, with a boom, only one fighter can be refueled at a time. The IL-78 does not have the boom and so can not refuel these new aircraft with them. Now the A330MRTTs offer both the options of the drogue and the boom. So it makes sense for us to go for them and opt for a combination of boom and drogues. I am not sure what the American versions are capable of. If they also offer similar capabilities then they too are worthy of consideration.

 

[indianspetsnaz]

my vote is the KC-767 from Boeing

 

[joekrish]

How many re fullers do we have at the moment?

 

[ali.jishan786]

How many re fullers do we have at the moment?

Indian Air Force currently operates "7 Ilyushin Il-78 MKI" air refuelers as of 2011.........

 

[Abingdonboy]

In the end the A330 MRTT will end up being selected and will enter into service 3 years later than it needed to all because some pencil pushers a few years ago judged the system unnessercarily expensive over looking the capabilities of the A330 MRTT and unable to get past "but the Russian one is cheaper". Now India has more money this purchase will sail through but too late.

 

[T90TankGuy]

Indian Air Force currently operates "7 Ilyushin Il-78 MKI" air refuelers as of 2011.........

i believe its 6 IL 78

 

[Abingdonboy]

Does no one else think 6 refuellers for an AF the size of the IAF (4th largest in the world) is FAR too few especially when IAF is growing at an extensive rate and this is before you take into account the IN (I am unaware of any plans for IN to induct their own a2a refuellers but have got buddy-refueller kits for Ks and Sea Harriers) which is inducting a significant number of fighters and MPAs in the near future and as per recent RFI their future SOAR helps wi have a2a refueling capability. All future IAF fighters, the C-130js, AWACS, SIGINT etc will have a2a refuelling capability (again excluding the IN aviation fleet). This is a huge refueller:fleet disequilibrium- it has to be the most unbalanced of any larger AF. It really makes you question whomever drew up the requirements for this tender.

Of course there will be a period when the IAF has 12 a2a refuellers with new refunded and existing IL-78MKI in service for some time together but the IL-78s will be retired soon after.



For its size and future needs the IAF needs atleast 20-30 such platforms.

 

[angeldemon_007]

Yeah its less if we carry out operations in different continent like US or UK or France but thats never gonna happen, i mean not in this decade. Our area of interest is South East Asia & China and may be S.Korea and Japan later but we don't need air-air refueller for all these.