MMRCA: Updates and Developments
June 11/12:
India’s IDSA is the bearer of some unpleasant news, given the M-MRCA competition’s deliberate decision to exclude costs from its shortlist:
”...actual fighter aircraft strength has fallen to close to 32 squadrons. These reduced numbers are of major concern to the IAF…. This [M-MRCA] programme for 126 aircraft, despite licensed production of all but 18 aircraft, is still likely to cost between US $10 and 20 billion. While it was presumed a few years ago that funds for defence would not be a constraint in the future, a slowing economy has led to these funds being curtailed…. The writing on the wall is clear: resource constraints are looming for the armed forces.”
IDSA recommends more indigenous production instead, without acknowledging that technology limitations and failures to deliver were the impetus behind M-MRCA in the first place. Having designed a competition slanted toward the 2 most expensive fighters, the IAF has few ways out of its self-created box. India could cut the M-MRCA buy, and use the funds to buy more of HAL’s Tejas lightweight fighters. The problem is that Tejas is experiencing production rate issues, and isn’t fully fielded yet. India could re-do the M-MRCA competition with cost as a factor this time, adding years to the process. Or it could go ahead with the full M-MRCA buy, and forego a number of other defense projects to pay for it.
India’s M-MRCA Fighter Competition: Rafale is L-1, but No Deal Yet