Ajai Shukla reports that the plan to supply 126 fighters to the Indian Air Force by Dassault and Eurofighter Consortium could be doomed if their bids are more expensive than the Ministry of Defence’s estimation even after it has been adjusted for inflation.
One thought on “Could MMRCA be doomed by Indian benchmark process?”
Comments are closed.
To put Shukla’s article in perspective. Look at the version on the official Business Standard website-http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/hefty-rs-42000-cr-bill-for-combat-aircraft-may-rise/444386/
and the version on his blog-
http://ajaishukla.blogspot.com/2011/07/hefty-rs-42000-crore-bill-for-combat.html
You will show a meaty number of lines included the blog version on a certain F-35. While Shukla is within his rights to question processes or advocate alternatives, this variation casts doubts on what exactly is at play here.
There are both formal (procedural yardsticks) and informal parameters involved in these contracts. So governments and companies frequently communicate with the prospective user on what will be realised or how expensive it will be. It would be utterly naive to think that all the parties involved (government/air force/vendors) would not have considered these price variations. Besides the nature of the contract has changed from that of a simple license production of four aircraft (F-16/Mig-29M/Gripen/Mirage-2000) to a wideranging deal involving a 50% offsets clause and transfer of technology. Again, pretty much every fighter contract in the world-from Romania to Switzerland to Qatar to Malaysia are all considering different fighters from the Gripen to the Eurofighter.