Saurabh Joshi explains why the Indian Navy’s fighter contest is expected to be cut short, with the aircraft being selected by default in a walkover next month.
NewsReel | Indian Navy fighter pick likely by July walkover
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Tag: Super Hornet
NewsReel | Fighter engine to power India-U.S. relations
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Saurabh Joshi analyses the significance of the agreement to produce GE F414 fighter aircraft engines in India and its far-reaching consequences for India’s military aviation industry, indigenous fighter capability and defence ties with the U.S.
26 by ’26: India has a chance to get new naval fighters quickly, with Boeing’s Super Hornet production ending
Boeing has announced it will complete F/A-18 production by the end of 2025
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Boeing has announced the end of production for the U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters in 2025. With no scope for early Rafale M deliveries, here’s how this could become an opportunity for the Indian Navy to get all 26 of its new Multi-Role Carrier-Borne Fighters by the end of 2026.
NewsReel | Could India finally get its first U.S. fighter?
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In the first edition of a new weekly video series, StratPost editor Saurabh Joshi examines whether India could acquire its first-ever U.S.-built fighter aircraft, with the navy considering the F/A-18 Super Hornet for its next carrier fighter.
Indian Navy has a new plan to buy fighter aircraft
| But some of the aircraft it's considering can't operate from aircraft carriers
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A quiet, hybrid process is underway to buy a reduced number of new fighters for the Indian Navy’s aircraft carriers. But remarkably, some of the fighters being considered can’t operate from aircraft carriers.
Boeing to offer F/A-18 CFTs to Intl’ customers
Block III Super Hornet Conformal Fuel Tanks will be available to international customers even after the U.S. Navy passed on the extra earlier this year
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Boeing confirmed last week that it would offer Conformal Fuel Tanks (CFTs) on the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter to international customers even though the U.S. Navy has declined the option for their order of the aircraft.
That Fighter Thing Again
The IAF's new contest for fighters has major problems ahead
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The IAF’s new contest for fighter aircraft is expected to get underway over the next few months. But there remain a number of significant outstanding problems ahead, that could delay or derail the process.
#RafaleScam: The Crucial Date
The date reveals what was known, to whom, and when
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Part III of this analysis examines the implications of the single most interesting data point to emerge from the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India. This date has never been mentioned in earlier media reports, and what is almost startlingly significant is not only what transpired on this date, but the fact of the date, itself.
How the MMRCA was killed #RafaleScam
And the Eurofighter was shafted by interpretation of costs
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Part II of this analysis examines how the defence ministry’s Contract Negotiation Committee (CNC) interpreted an inflated cost analysis of the Eurofighter bid and undervalued the cost of the Rafale bid, five times.
#RafaleScam: The CAG’s History
How the game was fixed for the French fighter
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Part I of this three-part analysis is a contextual reading of the February 2019 CAG report and outlines how the IAF’s MMRCA contest was fixed to get the Rafale back into the contest after it was rejected, three times, and how the threats to a Rafale win were removed.
7 ways to bullet-proof MMRCA 2.0
Lessons learned from the earlier MMRCA can prevent a repeat of that result
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We examine lessons learned from the MMRCA contest and look at seven ways to derisk the process to prevent a repeat of the result in the earlier MMRCA competition.
Podcast: Breaking down MMRCA 2.0
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Angad Singh and Pushan Das help StratPost editor Saurabh Joshi understand how the new IAF fighter contest will be different from the last one and why it will take two general elections before an order is placed.
Airbus to offer Eurofighter for MMRCA 2.0
Updated: Dassault to offer Rafale too, completing the MMRCA 6
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Updated: MMRCA 2.0 will be a repeat of the MMRCA contest with the same six aircraft: F/A-18 Super Hornet Block III, MiG-35, F-16 Block 70, Gripen E, Eurofighter and Rafale.
Boeing pitches Indian F/A-18 line with HAL, Mahindra
Boeing has offered the Block III Super Hornet to the Indian Navy & IAF
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Boeing is the third international manufacturer to have announced a partnership with Indian companies for the production of fighter aircraft in India.
Why the defence ministry is wrong in its Rafale defence
Ministry fails to explain why it didn't ask for a competitive Eurofighter quote
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The defence ministry has provided a singular and unconvincing defence of why it did not ask for, or entertain, a competing commercial offer for the Eurofighter Typhoon pitched by Airbus.
