| Submit your comments on this article |
| India-Pakistan |
| French Rafale out of race for IAF fighters |
| 2009-04-20 |
| The French Rafale twin-engine multi-role fighter has been knocked off a $10-billion contract for 126 combat aircraft for the Indian Air Force. One of six contenders, Rafale was officially rejected by the Ministry of Defence for what an official called the failure to meet qualitative requirements of the contract. The IAF has been maintaining that all six contenders — American F-18 and F-16, Eurofighter Typhoon, Russian MiG-35, Swedish Gripen NG and the Rafale — for the Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contract have met technical requirements. But a senior official of the Ministry of Defence today said that Dassault Aviation's Rafale was rejected at the technical evaluation stage for failing to meet minimum performance requirements detailed in the tender document. Flight trials for the remaining five fighters are expected to commence within three months, the official said. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #8 It's fortunate for us that the rest of the world pretty much sucks at building fighters. excepting Russia. That the US is still able to use 30 year old friggin fighters to compete, is astounding. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2009-04-20 23:00 |
| #7 Eurofighter Typhoon is the best plane in the lot. Looks like AESA radar is going to be a requirement. Typhoon is missing that and is twice the price of the competition. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-04-20 11:59 |
| #6 I dont know why Rafale was dropped. Range? Weak radar, weak missiles, few weapons, poor spares production, weak engines, weak optics, Gucci price tag. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-04-20 11:54 |
| #5 "Heh, heh. Keep trying, guys. You'll get an export sale one of these days." They already got... Eurofighter Typhoon is the best plane in the lot. I dont know why Rafale was dropped. Range? |
| Posted by: Large Snerong7311 2009-04-20 11:45 |
| #4 Swedish Gripen NG Heh, heh. Keep trying, guys. You'll get an export sale one of these days. |
| Posted by: gromky 2009-04-20 10:52 |
| #3 F18 (highest tech, lowest signature, reasonable price) or MiG35. Though I would like to see the uprated 25,000 lbs thrust engines. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-04-20 10:24 |
| #2 Darth, where does the F-18 sit in your opinion? I thought it was a decent to good aircraft. |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2009-04-20 08:48 |
| #1 I can see it coming down to the F-16 and the MIG-35. The other aircraft either have short legs, or not enough bang for the buck (or are hanger queens). It is a decision between reliable and proven, vs. new and Russian. If the MIG-35 performs like the MIG-29 for performance and reliability, it will be a good fit for the IAF. However, it is a new aircraft and very prone to gremlins. The F-16 had those worked out years ago. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2009-04-20 00:55 |