Eurofighter, Dassault asked to extend Indian MMRCA bids till December 2011

The Indian MoD today invited representatives of Dassault and Eurofighter with a request to extend their commercial bids till the end of this year. The commercial bids, made two years ago were to expire today (April 28, 2011). Informed sources told Defenseworld.net that the two shortlisted contenders will now have to go through the commercial evaluation process spread over the next few months, including offsets discussions before a finalist is chosen. The rest of the contenders, US aircraft –F 16, F/A 18, MiG-35 and Saab Gripen have been informed that their bids did not meet the technical evaluation criteria of the Indian Air Force (IAF). The U.S. government which was representing Boeing and Lockheed Martin has been informed of the rejection. Defenseworld.net has learnt that Boeing and Lockheed Martin, through the U.S. government and Saab are likely to question their rejection in a response to the Indian MoD’s letter informing them that they were out of the race.