Thaindian News

Washington, Jan.28 (ANI): If the United States is keen to win the race for supplying new medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) to the Indian Air Force, it will need to offer generous terms on the transfer of technology, assure India access to fifth-generation U.S. combat aircraft, and provide strong support for India’s strategic ambitions -to counter the perception that the older U.S. designs in the MMRCA race are less combat effective.

Expressing this view in an article for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, senior associate Ashley J. Tellis said that in making its decision, the Indian Government must keep the Indian Air Force’s interests consistently front and center to ensure that its ultimate choice of aircraft is the best one for the service.

“This will not only help India to strengthen its combat capabilities in the coming years, but also position it as a rising global power worthy of respect far into the future,” Tellis opines.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is entering the final stages of selecting 126 new medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) at a cost of about 10 billion dollars.

This is the largest Indian fighter tender in years. Eight countries and six companies eagerly await the outcome of the selection process, which has garnered high-profile attention for its sheer size, its international political implications, and its impact on the viability of key aircraft manufacturers.

The winner will obtain a long and lucrative association with India, a rising power and secure a toehold into other parts of India’s rapidly modernizing strategic industries.

Once selected, the aircraft will play an essential role in India’s military modernization as the country transitions from a regional power to a global giant.

Tellis says that ever since the 1971 war against Pakistan, India’s defense strategy has relied on maintaining superior airpower relative to both China and Pakistan.

And therefore, in the event of a regional conflict, Indian air power would serve as the country’s critical war-fighting instrument of first resort.

He reveals that India’s force levels have reached an all-time low of 29 squadrons due to delays in its defense procurement process as well as accidents and retirements of older fighter aircraft, and that the IAF is not expected to reach the currently authorized force levels of 39.5 squadrons before 2017.

He says in his article titled “Dogfight! India’s Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft Decision” that with India’s neighbors aggressively modernizing their own air forces, India’s need to expand its combat aircraft inventories becomes all the more urgent.

In choosing an aircraft, India must employ a speedy decision process that is focused on the right metrics, taking both technical and political considerations into account, Tellis says.

“The IAF has already evaluated the six MMRCA competitors against 660 technical benchmarks and has provided its recommendations to the Ministry of Defense. While the IAF has paid special attention to the fighters’ sensors and avionics, weapons, aerodynamic effectiveness, and mission performance, India’s civilian security managers are certain to emphasize technology transfer as well as costs when making their decision,” he adds.

“In fact, the winning aircraft for the IAF ought to be chosen on the triangular criteria of technical merit, relative cost, and optimal fit within the IAF’s evolving force architecture. Political considerations, however, will be key in the selection process,” he states further.

“In choosing the winning platform, Indian policymakers will seek to: minimize the country’s vulnerability to supply cutoff s in wartime, improve its larger military capacity through a substantial technology infusion, and forge new transformative geopolitical partnerships that promise to accelerate the growth of Indian power globally,” Tellis says.

Given the technical and political considerations, New Delhi should conclude the MMRCA competition expeditiously, avoid splitting the purchase between competitors, and buy the “best” aircraft to help India to effectively prepare for possible conflict in Southern Asia, he adds.