India to invite bids for fighter jets

India to invite bids for fighter jets

Indian government is soon expected to invite bids from four global defense majors. These possible suppliers include Lockheed Martin of the US and Russia’s MiG Corporation. India is looking towards purchasing 126 combat jets worth about $5 billion as per information released by Air Force.

Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi said in a statement: “Though the firms have sent details in response to our request for information (RFI), we have not sent the request for proposals (RPFs) yet. We will send them (RFPs) within a month.” Some other firms interested in this deal are Dassault Aviation of France (Mirage 2000-5) and Gripen of Sweden.

There is also a possibility of the Indian government going for F-16. Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi added: “No timeframe has been fixed yet, as signing such contracts takes a long time. It is not an ordinary deal but something that costs about $5 billion.” He was speaking on the sidelines of a function where President APJ Abdul Kalam, the supreme commander of the armed forces, presented the presidential standard to the Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) and presidential colors to the Institute of Aerospace Medicine.