Indian Military Aviation News and Discussion

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[url="http://www.defpro.org/daily/details/508/"]Eurofighter Typhoon Heads to India for MMRCA Evaluation [/url]

Eurofighter Consortium eyes $10.4 billion contract for future Indian fighter aircraft



11:04 GMT, February 15, 2010 defpro.com | Coinciding with the starting signal for India’s largest defence exhibition, DEFEXPO 2010 (15-18 February 2010), a German Air Force Eurofighter fighter aircraft will be heading to India today. However, this aircraft will not be making acrobatic manoeuvres for the visitors of the show but, rather, will be thoroughly examined by the Indian Air Force (IAF) as part of the medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) MMRCA programme. The Eurofighter will join India’s ongoing programme, which has been initiated in August 2007 and is currently in the process of testing all participating contenders, to undergo trials until March in Bengaluru as well as in Jaisalmer and Leh. The two latter stations will demonstrate the Eurofighter’s desert and high altitude performance.



As 8ak.in recently reported, the prospects for a success of Eurofighter in India still are difficult to judge, as the European consortium is receiving mixed signals from Indian officials. While there is general consent that the performance of the aircraft is up to the expectations, the pricing reportedly is an issue. Reuters news agency quoted India’s Ambassador, Arif Shahid Khan, saying Eurofighter Typhoon is leading the race to win the new fighter deal with the Indian Air Force. The Ambassador stressed the top position held by Eurofighter Typhoon during a meeting in late January with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Rome.

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