IAF to conclude MMRCA trial within a year

The Indian Air Force plans to complete the flight evaluation and performance trials of all competitors eyeing to bag its order for 126 Medium Multi Range Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) within a year. The final assessment of all aircrafts will then be submitted to the government. IAF officers said that the aircraft will be tested on three parameters- operational, systems and armaments. The MMRCA is expected to serve the country for the next three decades with periodic upgrades. The Aircrafts trial took off with Boeing flying in F/A-18 Super Hornets, along with a team of 50 personnel for the trials in Bangalore. The aircraft will also be tested at Leh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jaisalmer and Rajasthan. The firing and weapons testing will be done at the manufacturer’s home country. Other competitors are Anglo-Swedish Gripen, Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Super Viper, Eurofighter Typhoon, Russian United Aircraft Corporation’s MiG 35 and French Dassault Aviation’s Rafale. The Indian Air Force officers said the technical proposal, which formed part of the process, specified how each vendor would have to meet the Service Qualitative Requirements (SQR) mentioned in the Request for Proposal issued last year before the IAF started technical evaluation. Stability, control, safety issues, range and endurance are some of the factors that will be considered during the flight and performance evaluation. The assessment also involves testing the systems on board such as radar, navigation equipment, self-defence suites and electronic warfare devices. Armaments will be tested in the final phase.