IAF chief Air Chief Marshal PV Naik today asserted that there was “no connection” between the GE F414 engine selection for the Tejas MK-II and the Indian MMRCA competition. He was asked if the F414’s selection would provide any considerably advantage to the two platforms in the MMRCA that were powered by the same engine. His reply: “No, there is no connection.”
Soemone will make more money here and the forces will have to deal with another type!
While it is apparently agreed that there should be no connection between the selection of the the GE F414 for Tejas MkII n the M-MRCA candidates having the same engine, any future selection of either the SH or the Gripen will be purely coincidental n based solely on the merits of the individual platform – perfect example of diplomatese.
Now Come on! What do you expect him to say? That there is a connection and except Gripen and F18 all other are out of competition. Obviously he can't say that. Its logical that there is a connection and if nothing else it will give India an excuse to please US once again by selecting F18.
Why don't we say "one size does not fit all".
Light combat, medium multirole and (heavy) air superiority: they all have different power configuration (configuration – not just thrust, weight and outer dimension). They may or may not be worked out of a single power plant. What is most important is a balanced and effective force structure that we can achieve with those three categories.
Here we are talking about hundreds of engines in each category. Servicing four or five different engine types should not be a problem (given the amount of money we spend on HAL and GTRE). It is rather the older types (Harrier, mig 21, Jaguar) that may become the drag (too few and uneconomical to maintain a supporting facility).
– nanovacuum (US)