Steady depletion of fleet and a possible delay in awarding the contract for the proposed purchase of 126 new fighters, reportedly hastens the decision.
NEW DELHI: Faced with an unprecedented depletion in its fighter fleet and a possible delay in the contract for 126 new fighters, the Indian Air Force is proposing to buy 20 new Mirage fighters from France and overhaul its existing Mirage fleet.
The entire contract would cost over Rs7,000 crores.
Sources told DNA that the Ministry of Defence conveyed its proposal to the top brass of Dassault Aviation, manufacturers of Mirage, when French President Jacques Chirac visited India in February. The decision comes at a time when the government has slowed down the procedure to acquire 126 new fighters, contracts for which could be gifted to the US, if the US Congress approves the nuclear deal. DNA reported on Monday the government is toying with the idea of using the fighter contract as a leverage and reciprocity with the US.
Each of the proposed new Mirage 2000-5 fighters would cost over Rs 200 crores. Mirage 2000-5 fighters are the latest version of the fabled French fighters, some 50 of which are in service with the IAF. The new version would carry Israeli and Russian avionics and ammunition, sources said. The IAF, which presently has three Mirage squadrons, would add a fourth squadron with the new Mirages, sources said.
The proposal seeks to overhaul the entire Mirage 2000 fleet of IAF to bring them at par with the Mirage 2000-5. The overhaul for each fighter would cost over Rs70 crores, and the entire overhaul budget for Mirages could be over Rs3,500 crores, sources said. The overhaul would be carried out at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
“The fleet strength is going down. We are not looking at a very rosy future,” says a source involved in the deal. The IAF has an authorised strength of 39.5 squadrons but presently it has only around 35 in operation. “It has been depleting for quite sometime. The 126 fighters were projected in 2001 and approved by the government, but today the requirement is much more. When I retired the strength was already down by two or three squadrons. Now it would be more. The depletion is steady,” says former IAF chief Air Chief Marshal S Krishnaswamy.
The unusual and urgent proposal to acquire the 20 state-of-the-science Mirage 2000-5 comes at a time when its manufacturer Dassault Aviation is planning to stop production of Mirage 2000-5. They have already pulled out Mirage 2000-5 model from the race for 126 fighters, offering its new Rafale fighters instead.
Without commenting directly on the proposal, Krishnaswamy says the Mirages are “good aircrafts and the air force is very happy with it”.
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