Surprise victory yet to be officially confirmed (384 words)

Published: 8/10/2001

Reports from India picked up by the media in Russia and the UK indicate that MiG's optimism in securing the contract for advanced trainers from the Indian Air Force for the MiG-AT may not be misplaced. Sources are suggesting that the long-awaited contract for 66 advanced trainer aircraft, thought to have gone to BAe Systems for the Hawk trainer, is potentially in terminal trouble on two fronts. The first, according to sources within India, is that the price, at $21m per unit, is regarded as expensive, particularly when compared with the $16m tab for the French-powered AT and substantially higher than the price of $17m, for which the Hawk was offered to the South Africans in a successful tender by the UK producer. The second concern is that US sanctions against India relating to its nuclear activities could also cause problems with the Hawk, as it contains a high level of US content. The AT, however, a collaboration between the French and the Russians, is not subject to the same kind of political sensitivity. If it transpires, the deal for the AT will come after extensive French commitment to the project and against the view of the Indian Air Force, which reportedly favoured the Hawk. MiG, to its credit, has made considerable efforts to make the deal attractive to the Indian MoD and it also seems likely that the deal could be linked to the MiG-29K package for the Indian Navy. Russia has also made efforts to make its aircraft meet the India's requirements and has overcome earlier criticism of the aircraft being underpowered with its Snecma Larzac. This has recently addressed with the new options of a more powerful version of the French engine and a Russian version of the RD-1700. At present, there is no official confirmation of MIG victory in what has become a protracted process and the British Embassy in Delhi will only state that negotiations are continuing. A win for MiG would undoubtedly buoy its flagging fortunes in the significant Russian aerospace reshuffle, within which it was seen as losing out. The tender originally suggested that two-thirds of the aircraft would be built by HAL in India: a company with which MiG has extensive production experience.

Article ID: 2698