$20 billion defence project: India kicks off process to procure 110 fighter jets for IAF

200亿美元国防项目：印空军拟采购110架战斗机

Rajat Pandit| TNN | Updated: Apr 6, 2018, 20:06 IST

NEW DELHI: It's jet set, go, all over again! India has kicked off a fresh dogfight for its $20 billion "mother of all defence deals" by re-inviting global aviation majors to compete for producing fighter jets in India under the government's "strategic partnership" policy.

新德里：喷气式飞机，加油，加油！印度为价值200亿美元的国防军购订单发起招标，重新邀请全球航空巨头在印度政府的“战略伙伴关系”政策下为其生产战斗机。

IAF on Friday issued a preliminary global tender or RFI (request for information) to acquire 110 fighter jets, of which 85% are to be built in India with a domestic strategic partner or production agency. The aviation majors have to submit their responses to the RFI, which also stipulates that 75% of the fighters will be single-seat jets, by July 3.

印空军周五发布了一份购买110架战斗机的初步全球招标或信息征询书（RFI），其中85%战机将由供国外航空巨头与国内战略合作伙伴或生产机构在印度境内生产。全球飞机制造商必须在7月3日前对此作出回应，75%的战斗机将是单座型飞机。

"The project will cost an estimated Rs 1.25 lakh crore. IAF hopes to issue the formal tender or RFP (request for proposal), inviting technical and commercial bids, within 6-12 months of getting the responses to the RFI," said a top source.

该项目预计将耗资1.25万亿卢比。印度空军希望在收到意向书的6-12个月内发出正式投标申请书，邀请技术和商业投标。

Though it’s very early days as yet because the entire process of submission of RFP bids, complex evaluation and field trials will take some years, the aim is to set up a second fighter manufacturing line in India to supplement the long-delayed production of indigenous Tejas jets.

不过现在来看还有些为时尚早，因为整个过程包括提交投标申请，综合评估和实地试验需要花费几年的时间。而该项目的目标是在印度建立第二条战斗机生产线，以补充交付量严重不足的国产光辉战机。

IAF, after all, is grappling with just 31 fighter squadrons (each with 18 jets) when at least 42 are required to tackle the "collusive threat" from Pakistan and . Moreover, the 10 exsting squadrons of old MiG-21s and MiG-27s are slated for retirement by 2022.

毕竟，印空军目前有31个战斗机中队（每个中队拥有18架战机）。而若要应对和巴基斯坦的“双重威胁”，至少需要42个战斗机中队。此外，10个中队现有的米格-21和米格-27战斗机将于2022年退役。

译文来源：三泰虎 http://www.santaihu.com/44656.html

The RFI comes after the NDA government scrapped its two-year-old plan to produce 114 single-engine fighters with foreign collaboration at an estimated cost of Rs 1.15 lakh crore, and asked IAF to go in for a wider competition by including twin-engine fighters as well, as was first reported by TOI in February.

此前，莫迪政府取消了两年前开始的与国外合作生产114架单引擎战斗机计划，该项目价值1.15亿卢比。印度空军此次发布的信息征询书也为双发战斗机制造商敞开大门。

But this will ensure a repeat of the original MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) project for 126 jets, which was initiated by the previous UPA regime in 2007 but could never be inked due to a deadlock in the final commercial negotiations with the eventual winner of the contest, the French Rafale fighters.

印度此次发出的信息征询书与2007年国大党政府宣布采购126架中型多用途战斗机（MMRCA）的订单极其相似。法国“阵风”战斗机成为项目的胜利者，但最终合同谈判陷入僵局。

The new RFI has also been issued to the six contenders in the scrapped MMRCA project, which were F/A-18 'Super Hornet' and F-16 'Super Viper' (US), Gripen-E (Sweden), MiG-35 (Russia), Eurofighter Typhoon and Rafale, who will now field their latest variants for the new contest.

新的信息征询书已经发布给了6个原MMRCA项目的竞标者，包括美国的F/A-18E/F“超级大黄蜂”和F-16IN“超级毒蛇”、瑞典鹰狮-E、俄罗斯米格-35、欧洲台风战斗机和法国阵风战斗机，他们将为此轮竞标开发新版本战机。

The NDA government had junked the MMRCA project, under which the first 18 jets were to come in flyaway condition and the rest 108 being licensed produced by defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), in June 2015. It had then gone in for the off-the-shelf acquisition of 36 Rafales under the 7.8 billion Euros (Rs 59,000 crore) contract inked in September 2016.

此前的MMRCA项目要求首批18架飞机整机交付，其余108架由印度斯坦航空公司（HAL）按许可证生产。莫迪政府2015年6月废弃了该项目，于2016年9月签署了以78亿欧元（5900亿卢比）购买36架阵风战斗机的合同。