Here Is All That You Need To Know About Saab-Adani Group's Defence Deal
On 1 September, Swedish defence and security major Saab and Adani Group announced plans to make Saab’s single engine fighter aircraft Gripen and other high-tech products of national importance for India. The two groups will also create joint ventures in India in line with government’s ‘Make In India’ policy in defence.
Similarly, on 19 June, US-based Lockheed Martin and Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) signed an agreement expressing their intent to join hands to produce the F-16 Block 70 in India. Both the collaborations are to participate in the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) single-engine fighter programme, which is expected to be out soon under the recently announced strategic partnership model.
These two aircraft are back competing each other after a hiatus of six years when they were participant in, now scrapped, Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) programme of the IAF for procurement of 126 medium weight fighter jets, which was won by the French Rafale.
The Gripen and F-16 were among the six jets in the running for an IAF tender floated in 2007. Eighteen of these aircraft were to be procured directly from the vendor and rest were to be manufactured under licence in India by HAL, Bengaluru, with an offset clause of 50 per cent. The request for proposal was sent out in 2007 and was responded by six companies and the French Rafale emerged the lowest bidder. After the failure of negotiation between government and the vendor, the tender was eventually scrapped. But due to operational necessity, the IAF opted for an off-the-shelf purchase of 36 Rafales for over Rs 55,000 crore.
Single engine programme basically brings the MMRCA back in the business but with this time only for single-engine fighters. Out of the six contenders of MMRCA, two single engine jets were considered the weakest because of their comparative size, but ironically, they have made a comeback through the IAF single engine fighter requirement.
What’s New This Time?
The IAF has around 30 operational fighter squadron comprising Russian MiGs 21, 27 and 29, French Mirage 2000, British-French Jaguar, Su-30 mki and LCA Tejas. Indian fleet had aircraft specialised for specific roles, but after the induction of Mirage 2000, a true multi-role aircraft, the IAF realised that by replacing specialised aircraft with multi-role fighters, it will increase its efficiency and operational flexibility with much reduced operational and logistic burden.
The MMRCA deal was supposed to replace ageing and accident prone Soviet origin MiG 21s and MiG 27s.
The IAF had envisaged a fighter aircraft fleet with three different categories of fighter aircraft – heavy fighters, medium fighters and light fighters. The Russian Su-30 Mki was chosen as heavy fighter and, till date, the IAF has 230 of these birds out of the order of 272 aircraft. In the medium segment (MMRCA), India floated a global tender to select aircraft through for 126 aircraft. India has Rafale in this segment. In the light fighter category, the IAF is inducting indigenously developed light combat aircraft Tejas Mk1. Till date, India has ordered for 123 aircraft from defence public sector undertaking HAL. But even after 10 years of floating MMRCA tender, India has come back to the starting point. If it was not for the Su-30s, the IAF would have lost its operational superiority to its adversaries. The IAF is also planning to induct fifth generation stealth fighter from Russia, which will be co-produced by both nations.
Now, the IAF is expected to decommission around 10 squadrons (16-18 aircraft each) of Russian jets. To maintain the numbers, the IAF needs to induct around 200 aircraft in the next 10 years. Ironically, MMRCA, called the mother of all deals, was estimated to cost exchequers Rs 55,000 crore but India ended up paying the same amount in 2016 for just 36 aircraft. Irony continues as two of the lightest fighters are back with proposals to manufacture in India!
The story of MMRCA is the saga of everything that is wrong with Indian procurement system. India wished for dream deals where we would get weapons system, technology, offset and assembly line at a competitive price. But the inability to take timely decisions and bureaucratic red tapism ended up converting the opportunity into a liability.
Speaking on the fighter acquisition problems Air Marshal Vinod Patney (Retd), Director General, Centre for Air Power Studies, says, “Aircraft acquisition programme are essentially a function of need but political consideration buttressing Indian industry and ‘Make In India’ programme are important considerations. Sometimes the best is the enemy of the good.” Deba Mohanty, Director, Indike Analytics, opines that “acquisition of both MMRCA type and single-engine fighters typify the IAF’s indecision or bad planning.”
To overcome the shortage of combat jets, the IAF, in October 2016, sent out a one-page letter to manufacturers in Sweden, the US and Russia through Indian embassies scouting for single-engine fighters to replace its ageing fleet. The letter was responded by Saab and Lockheed Martin offering their single jet fighters.
Answering why India is interested in single-engine aircraft but not more Rafales, Patney said, “We needed Rafale class of aircraft. The cost of the capabilities makes it expensive, hence, we are seeking aircraft of high enough capability but somewhat less expensive.”
But this time too, if India fails to reach an agreement at the right time, the repercussions will be immense. No amount of money will be able to resurrect the IAF at a time when the fifth generation fighters are almost ready to be inducted by a next-door adversary.
