MRCA tender: US firm Raytheon locks onto India

Vying for a pie in India's planned procurement of 126 MMRCA fighters, US defence major Raytheon today said it was eager to supply weapons systems for being integrated onto the jets to be selected from among two shortlisted European companies.

Harry Schulte, Raytheon vice-president of Air Warfare Systems said the company has a suite of air-to-air and air-to-surface weapons systems that could be integrated on Rafale or Eurofighter, the two shortlisted plane makers by India, subject to US government approval.

"Raytheon is prepared to meet India's national security needs and support the protection of India's sovereign interests with our air-to-air and air-to-surface weapons," he said at the Paris Air Show here.

India has shortlisted two European contenders, French Dassault Rafale and European Eurofighter for procuring 126 Medium-Multirole Combat Aircraft (M-MRCA) deal for the Indian Air Force (IAF) in April.

He said Raytheon's Paveway systems with proven track record could be integrated into the 126 MMRCA. Raytheon's Paveway is a kit that transforms "dumb" bombs into precision-guided munitions; Paveway is currently in the inventory of the Indian Air Force and 41 other countries.

The Paveway family of weapons are platform independent and integrated on more than 27 aircraft.

Noting that India was a priority country for Raytheon, he also announced the firm's desire to integrate the combat-proven Paveway systems on India's Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).

"Raytheon has been a trusted partner to India for more than three decades, and we hope to deepen this relationship by providing the Indian Air Force the tools it needs to defend India's sovereign interests," said Harry Schulte, Raytheon vice-president of Air Warfare Systems.

"India's air warriors deserve the world's most accurate direct-attack precision guided munition, which is why Raytheon's Paveway is a perfect fit for the LCA.

Integrated on the Rafale and Eurofighter, Paveway has been extensively used in several ongoing contingency operations. Raytheon's battle-tested Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile is integrated on the Eurofighter.

Raytheon officials also indicated that subject to the approval of the US and Indian governments, Raytheon is looking for partnership opportunities to produce critical components of Paveway with Indian industry.

"Raytheon has the utmost respect for the capabilities of India's defense industry," said Peter Wray, vice president of business development for Raytheon Missile Systems in India.

"If Raytheon were to receive the proper authorisations and find the right partner, we'd be eager to pursue co-production opportunities".