Oct 12, 2010

GE 414 for the LCA, Will MMRCA Go to F/A 18 or Gripen?

US firm General Electric Aviation has reportedly won the contract for supplying GE F414 engine for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) being developed by the DRDO as per reports in the Hindustan Times as well as Times of India on 01 October. The contract is likely to be for 100 engines though 140 aircraft are to be built other aircraft may have the Kaveri engine which is under development by the DRDO. GE F 414 has a thrust of 100 Kilo Newton or so. The initial two squadrons will however be powered by the F 404 till the present airframe of the LCA is upgraded to take on the 414. The Air Force plan is to eventually field 7 squadrons of LCA with the first one likely to be inducted by December 2010.

There is now speculation that with GE 414 being used in the US fighter F/A 18 as  well and in the SAAB Gripen India select one of these fighters for the Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contract. This may be a logical decision for the pricing of these fighters would come down considerably if the company can provide say 300 of these engines in a combination of the LCA and MMRCA. This will provide the Boeing as well as SAAB additional leverage in selling their machines. However whether there is any linkage at all at this stage is be too early to tell.

However the MMRCA acquisition process is heating up. The Financial Expresss indicated that, "The field trial report of the six contenders has been sent to the director-general acquisition's office, which is expected to make recommendations and send it to the defence acquisition council (DAC) of the ministry of defence (MoD)." "The DG's recommendations will not only be based on the field trial report but will also take into consideration the evaluation of the offset proposals of the six contenders. The Offset Technical Committee in the defence ministry has already initiated the process of evaluating the offset proposals."

According to these sources, "Vendors who are compliant rule wise, Defence Procurement Policy and Technical offsets will ultimately be opened for consideration. Also, the lowest bidder, designated L1, will be selected as the medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA)." Media speculation however has been linking the MMRCA deal with the high profile visits of Presidents of the United States, France and Russia due in New Delhi before end of the Year which has no basis. The earliest the deal is likely to be finalized will be end of 2011 or in 2012.

OCT 2010