IAF hunts for replacements for 125 MiGs

The Indian Air Force will evaluate fighter aircraft from US, Russia, France and Sweden before buying 125 of them, to replace its aging MiG aircraft, the chief of the air staff, air chief marshal S P Tyagi told reporters here on Monday.

Some 300 MiG would be phased out by 2007, and among the firms competing to supply the replacements are Lockheed Martin, Dassault Aviation and MiG Corporation, Tyagi said.

Before a commercial order is placed, the IAF had to send requests for proposals to the firms and evaluate their aircraft. Swedish firm SAB with its Grippen aircraft is also in the running, he said.

The air chief stressed that the decision to shop abroad was not because of a delay in the development and manufacture of the country's indigenous light combat aircraft (LCA). "The LCA will be part of the air force," he said.

India will also insist on technology transfers, including the source codes for the avionics software that go on whichever aircraft the IAF finally decides to buy. The IAF has some 1,500 aircraft, he said.

Earlier, at the inauguration of an international seminar on defence aerospace, the air chief said the government could create an "Aerospace Commission" to achieve greater coordination between various agencies working to build aircraft and related systems in the country, as resources were scarce.

The second task of the commission can be to find ways of getting the private sector involved in defence aerospace projects.

If hurdles such as long gestation periods, long learning curves, limited sponsorship for research and development and political wrangles were surmounted, the private sector could help make aerospace an engine for economic growth, he said.