A proposed deal with EADS/Airbus Military for six A330 multirole tanker transport (MRTT) will shortly be cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), following which a formal contract will be signed. The contract, worth approximately $1.3 billion may be processed through the government-to-government route considering that the IAF had decided in advance that it did not want the Ilyushin-78M to be part of the competition.
The IAF has chosen the same Israeli-built pod-probe-drogue that was fitted on the Ilyushin-78s. The A330 MRTT will be used to refuel almost all current IAF aircraft types: Mirage-2000, Jaguar, Sukhoi-30MKI and MiG-29 (which will get probes as part of their upgrade), the A-50I Phalcon AWACS and the C-130J Super Hercules, as also the Navy’s Sea Harriers (or what’s left of them), the new MiG-29Ks and the P-8I LRMRs.
hu? Ilyushin-87M. Is this a new type?
to shiv and friends
india bought 6 c130j for 1.2 billion dollars
and india going to sign 6 a330 MRTT tankers for 1.3 billion dollars
so tell which deal is better
americans sucking our govt
Ilyushin-78M fitted with cfm56 engines is equally good in range nad fuel carrying capability
or probably russia will start selling these tankers to pakistan as you all know pakis also need cheaper tanker
so russia wil sell them if india doesn't want il78
if il78 doesn't meet indian requirements then it certainly meets our neighbour's requirments for sure
Guys,
Get to know things first before you start commenting. IL-78 factory is with Ukraine not Russia.
Pak is getting those refuelers from Ukraine not Russia.
Refuelers are considered force multipliers, so its better to have refuelers from two different makers, so that we donot get blackmailed in time of need for extra money.
like some gentlemen above are saying if India does not take il 76 then Russia will move to Pakistan but the point is how many can Pakistan buy,,,they do not have any money to buy ,,,they seem to be buying J 17 from china on a soft loan…Is Russia willing to give them il 76 on a soft loan?
ROFL, another "headline" contract to please the gullible. Six/ten refuellers will do nothing for IAF. They need a fleet of 28-30 A330 class refuelers, minimum.
But then again, Sonia's ????? is not buying new aircraft for IAF either, and LCA is being killed by continued underfunding.
So IAF will not have many aircraft to refuel in half a decade, anyway.
What a country.
I fail to understant why we place a piecemeal order. Why not 10 tankers in one go unless money is the problem. At least order the quantity that is going to make some difference.
to anon at 1:01 PM
u r right next time if we need more tankers a300 mrtt then we have to pay more price than what v r paying today
and its pretty obvious that IAF will definitely need more tankers
one lunatic named andrew is spamming the blog after being banned from BR, another lunatic has discovered hindi fonts and is busy using them in every post. guys, buck up and post sense please.