| India Defence | |||||||||||||||||
Featured Reports
|
Airbus MRTT Tanker Tipped Favorites for Indian Air Force USD 1 Billion Deal2009-05-26 The Indian Air Force has decided to buy the Airbus A330 multi-role tanker transport (MRTT) instead of the Russian built Ilyushin-78 air-to-air tanker, the Hindustan Times reported yesterday.The IAF Air Chief Marshal, Major Fali Homi said in an interview that after finishing evaluations the European A330 MRTT has been selected as the future tanker of the Air Force. Fali Homi also said that a deal is expected to come up for final approval by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) very soon. The Ilyushin and Airbus platform were competing for the tender announced by the MoD three years ago consisting of six midair tanker aircraft worth nearly $1 billion. The Air Chief Marshal now said that the Russian aircraft have failed to meet certain requirements. Therefore, the IAF has decided to take the A330 MRTT - a military derivative of the Airbus A330 airliner - offered by European aerospace corporation EADS. The first A330 MRTT may be delivered to the IAF within three years after signing the deal, while the remaining five would be inducted 15 months after that. The IAF has operated the Il-78 tankers for almost six years but are now braking with Russia as its main defence supplier. The A330 MRTT has won several tanker competitions with contracts signed by the governments of United Kingdom, Australia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Sponsored Links
|
||||||||||||||||
| © 2010 India Defence |
|
||||||||||||||||