Thaindian News

By Fakir Balaji
Bangalore, Aug 17 (IANS) The much-awaited flight evaluation trials of the medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) that are vying for an Indian Air Force (IAF) order for 126 jets began here Monday with a pair of Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets - one of the six contenders - flying two sorties, an official said.

“Two Super Hornets flew twice for around 45 minutes from the (state-run) HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd) airport, once in the morning around 10 a.m. and again in the afternoon,” a senior official of the air traffic control (ATC) told IANS.

The official, however, declined to reveal who piloted the twin-seater aircraft or reveal details of the flight operations, including ground tests. Boeing has taken the aircraft on lease from the US Air Force for the trials.

“We treat movement of any aircraft as routine. I can only say both the Super Hornets took off from our airport and landed safely after their sorties,” the ATC official said, requesting anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

The other aircraft in the fray for the IAF’s $10 billion order are the Lockheed Martin F-16I Super Viper, the Dassault Rafale, the Saab Gripen, the Russian MiG-35, and the European consortium EADS Eurofighter Typhoon.

The IAF declined to comment on the day’s trials.

“We have no information about the trials. You have to check with the bidding firms. We will, however, inform the media about the trials when we have the details,” an IAF spokesman told IANS from New Delhi.

“The trials have just begun. It is too early to comment or share details about the manouvres, envelope, speed, altitude and other flight details,” an IAF source said, declining to be named.

According to the source, the fighters were flown by Boeing test pilots with IAF test pilots as co-pilots.

“We are pleased to be given the opportunity to showcase the formidable capabilities of the F/A-18 Super Hornet to India and to demonstrate that this combat-proven strike fighter will inject advanced military strength into both the Indian Air Force and into India’s defence aerospace sector,” Vivek Lal, India country head of Boeing Integrated Defence Systems (IDS) had previously said of the trials.

The trials were witnessed from the IAF’s aircraft systems and training establishment (ASTE) complex, located at the HAL airport, by an IAF evaluation team and officials from the defence ministry, HAL, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the directorate general of aeronautical quality assurance at air headquarters.

The IAF has formed two teams of two test pilots each for the flight trials, which will be conducted in three stages: pilot familiarisation, field trials and weapons systems trials. The third stage will be conducted in the country of manufacture.

The technical evaluation was completed early this year after the six manufacturers responded to the IAF’s Request for Proposal (RFP) in August 2007.

The IAF plans to acquire 18 aircraft in fly-away conditions, with the rest being manufactured by HAL under a technology transfer deal. The aircraft are meant to replace the IAF’s ageing fleet of MiG-21 that were first inducted in the 1960s.

Boeing IDS had flown in the two fighters, along with a midair refueller, to Bangalore Aug 14. Besides test pilots, the Boeing team consists of flight test engineers, technicians and officials dealing with the bid.