The tender for the MMRCA was issued in late 2007 and the elaborate process of evaluating the technical proposals from all the contenders is complete . The Indian Air Force has found all the six bidders technically correct and have moved them to next stage - the Flight Evaluation.
MMRCA flight trials are being done in three phases.
Phase 1 involves training and familiarization of the Indian Evaluation Team.
Phase 2 involves flying under extreme wet (Bangalore), cold (Leh) and hot conditions
(Jaisalmer) conditions.
Phase 3 will include firing of specialist weapons from the aircraft.
The Indian Evaluation Team (IET) in addition to test pilots also has three flight test engineers and representatives from the Ministry of Defence, HAL, the DRDO, Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance and Air Headquarters.
The trial schedule is as under.
August - Super Hornet F/A-18E/F
September - Super Viper F-16IN
September - Rafale
October - MiG-35
February 2010 - Eurofighter Typhoon
March 2010 - Gripen JAS-39
During the evaluation process, the IAF's qualified pilots and engineers would test the six aircraft for engine and all systems' performance and the data will be compiled to arrive at the final "cost of ownership" worked out on the basis of acquisition, maintenance, spares and life cycle costs of buying and operating the aircraft for a maximum of four decades, informed IAF authorities.
"Once the evaluation report is submitted to the government, the commercial proposals from the six companies will be opened for comparison with the report and the Services Qualitative Requirements stated in the tender. We need to find which aircraft's cost of ownership will be the lowest," they said.
Asked about the six aircraft in the race not meeting the SQRs set in the tenders at present, they said the technical evaluation committee report would provide equal opportunity to the competitors to demonstrate how they would meet the SQRs, which were mission-related.
"The six companies need to convince us that all parameters set in the SQRs will be met when the first aircraft joins the IAF service after the order is placed. Some of these hi-tech systems, such as the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, could be in development stage at present. But finally the company needs to deliver it during acceptance test before induction. That is all that matters," said the IAF officials.
They said the tender also included transfer of technology (TOT) for production of the aircraft within India and that the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) would be handling the TOT part of the contract. The Indian Air Force plans to conclude within a year the flight evaluation and performance trials of all six competitors vying to bag its order for 126 Medium Multi Range Combat Aircraft (MMRCA). It will then present its assessment of each aircraft to the government.
The IAF will test the efficacy of the aircraft on three counts: operational, systems and armaments, IAF officers familiar with the process said here. The MMRCA is expected to serve the country for the next three decades with periodic upgrades.
The officers said the technical proposal, which formed part of the process, specified how each vendor would have to meet the Service Qualitative Requirements For the first time, the IAF will work out the cost of ownership of each aircraft. This means evaluating factors such as the life of the engine, the cost of overhaul/replacement of engine and the cost to maintain these aircraft by establishing ground support.
Stability, control, safety issues, range and endurance are some of the factors that will be considered during the flight and performance evaluation. The exercise also involves testing the systems on board such as radar, navigation equipment, self-defence suites and electronic warfare devices. Armaments will be tested in the final phase. It is a multi-faceted evaluation that includes flight-test pilots, flight-test engineers and operational pilots and engineers. We do not compare one aircraft with another, but evaluate against its ability to meet our requirements and arrive at a through and methodical conclusion. There are no extra points for anyone crossing the minimum [SQR] requirements, the officials said.
The RFP lays down that the first aircraft is supplied within 36 months of the contract being signed and the 18th within 48 months. The 19th aircraft, the first to be assembled in India, will come within 54 months. Thereafter, there will be an incremental increase with the last aircraft to be delivered by 2020. Only 2-3 competitors are likely to remain in the fray following the flight evaluations, at which points prince negotiations will be opened with their manufacturers. Flight trials for all the aircraft are scheduled to be completed by April 2010.
