India readies to select mid-air refueler

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India readies to select mid-air refueler - The Economic Times

NEW DELHI: India is readying to select the winner of the $2-billion tender for six mid-air refuelers for its air force, with both the contending planes from European consortium EADS Airbus and Russian Ilyushin clearing the flight trials.

According to informed sources, the Indian defence ministry is now considering the bids to arrive at the lowest bidder in the tender issued in September 2010. India is looking for six refuelers.

The tender had been reissued by the government after the Airbus' A330MRTT was selected by the Indian Air Force as the winner of an earlier tender in 2009.

But the finance ministry objected to the "high cost" for the A330MRTT. So the tender was cancelled in January 2010.

"After three trials in November, we have been informed that we are compliant with the specifications mentioned in the tender," Airbus Defence Capability Marketing vice president Ian Elliot told reporters here.

Ilyushin too has been found complaint, the sources said.

Asked about the finance ministry objections during the previous tendering process, Elliot said the concerns were relating to "capital investment cost."

But now, the lowest bidder for the tender will be worked out on the basis of life cycle cost of operating the plane over several decades.

During flight trials, Airbus had demonstrated midair refueling of Indian Air Force's Sukhoi-30 and Jaguar combat planes on its A330MRTT.

It also similarly demonstrated refueling of Mirage-2000s while contesting the United Arab Emirates tender. India has a fleet of nearly 50 Mirage-2000s. India also has a six-aircraft fleet of IL-78s.
 

noob101

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Russians shouldn't get this tender even if it is the lowest bidder so they get their act together and actually deliver existing orders on time and also maintain a reliable stream for spares and maintenance
 
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Russians shouldn't get this tender even if it is the lowest bidder so they get their act together and actually deliver existing orders on time and also maintain a reliable stream for spares and maintenance
Russians slipped refuellers to pakistan via ukraine.
 

Blackwater

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these bastard sarkari babus think lowest bidding always mean its better
 

Blackwater

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IL-76/78 major problems are spare, they have cheap Unit cost..

But in the long Run they Burn your Pockets empty on Maintenance and Flying costs..



I hope US wins or Euros..
but these sarkari babus dont agree with you.they want to save money for their wifes ***** and ***
 
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pmaitra

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IL-76/78 major problems are spare, they have cheap Unit cost..

But in the long Run they Burn your Pockets empty on Maintenance and Flying costs..



I hope US wins or Euros..
Depends whether they will be considering Ilyushin-76 or Ilyushin-476.

Il-476 Goes After The C-17 Market

December 30, 2009: The Russian Air Force has decided to buy 38 of the new Il-476 transports. This is basically an Il-76 with more modern engines, state-of-the art electronics and numerous other improvements. This version can carry up to 60 tons and is about 15 percent more fuel efficient. It will be about two years before the first Il-476 enters service.

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking on the viability of existing Il-76s. All Russian Il-76 were recently grounded because the engine fell off one of them while it was preparing to takeoff. It was only two years ago that Russia rolled out an upgraded model. New engines and electronics give the Il-76MD-90 eight percent better fuel efficiency, and the ability to lift up to 60 tons of cargo. Further improvements, in development, will increase fuel efficiency another 14 percent. Russia is trying to make the Il-76/Il-476 a contender in the military air transport market

The Il-76 is somewhat similar in capability to the U.S. C-17, but uses older technology, more similar to the recently retired U.S. C-141. The Russians have also been buying a stretched version of the Il-76 (the Il-76MF). This version first flew in 1995, and has become popular with users of earlier Il-76 models. The Il-76MF has better engines and can carry 50 tons of cargo over 4,000 kilometers. Another popular Il-76 is the tanker version (called the Il-78.)

There are far more Il-76's in use than all of America's four engine jet transports (C-5, C-141, C-17) put together. Over 900 Il-76s were manufactured over the last thirty years, with nearly a hundred exported, so far, mainly to Cuba, Iraq, China, India, Libya and Syria. With few foreign or domestic sales in the last decade, the Il-76 manufacturer (Chkalov) was surviving by manufacturing wings and other components for the An-124, An-70 and An-225 transports. In addition, it made replacement parts for the Il-76 and Il-114 aircraft.

The new models of the Il-76 indicate a substantial R&D investment, and an effort to make the Il-76 a serious competitor (mainly on price, at about $50 million each) with the C-17 (which costs about four times as much, and is able to carry up to 100 tons). What the C-17 is best at is carrying about half that weight, half way around the world, non-stop. The Il-76 has a hard time matching that. The C-17 is also easier to maintain, and more reliable. But a fuel-efficient Il-76, that can be refueled in the air, has a price that's tough to beat.

Source: Air Transportation: Il-476 Goes After The C-17 Market
 

Kunal Biswas

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Depends whether they will be considering Ilyushin-76 or Ilyushin-476.
Tanker variant is based on IL-76, IL-476 is for cargo..

IAF protest IL-76 as a Whole system have spare problems..
 

Ray

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Money is the problem, given the financial woes the country has landed itself in!
 

pmaitra

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Tanker variant is based on IL-76, IL-476 is for cargo..

IAF protest IL-76 as a Whole system have spare problems..
True, but Indian Ilyushin-76 could as well use the new engines of Ilyushin-476 as part of an upgrade package. Alternatively, Ilyushin-476 could be modified as a MARS.

For spares, I think we should consider making them here.
 

pmaitra

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which one participated in contest and did only european and russian participated in the contest or americans to
I think the last of the Ilyushin-76 family of planes we bought, actually Ilyushin-78, was form Uzbekistan, as AWACS. I don't know which version participated in the contest.
 

Kunal Biswas

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IL-78 is same as IL-76 except the cargo bay is converted to keep large fuel tanks, IL-76 is used for AWACS..
 

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