Saab and Kalyani Strategic Systems Ltd have announced plans to set up a joint venture for the production of the RBS 70 VSHORAD and Bamse SRSAM systems in India.
The post-MMRCA narrative unfolding since April is one in which the Modi government has quietly reached out to at least three foreign OEMs to invite interest in building fighter aircraft in India.
The tender to manufacture the C-295 was the first aircraft procurement plan especially intended by the IAF and the defense ministry to be solely partnered in India by private industry.
Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar: ‘A replacement (for the MiG-21) could be the LCA Tejas or another – I’ll not call it low end – but a single engine lighter aircraft. Tejas is a good aircraft but it has its limitations.’
Saab’s Chief Test Pilot Richard Ljungberg takes us around a Royal Thai Air Force Gripen D at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace exhibition as he explains plans for the future development of the aircraft to the ‘E’ and ‘F’ variant.
Rosoboronexport wrote to Indian evaluators saying that they did not feel it necessary to conduct a proper summer demonstration of their Igla-S VSHORAD system.
Saab’s Lars-Olof Lindgren says his company has been quietly working on a plan to build the Gripen in India and has already done a lot of the homework for it.
Although Textron has offered the Scorpion to India, there is no aircraft in production anywhere in the world, which meets the specifications of the IAF RFI for intermediate jet trainers.