Vice President, Strategy and Business Development (Global) at Lockheed Martin, Dr. Vivek Lall spoke to StratPost at DefExpo 2018, where he welcomed the competition and outlined why he thinks the F-16 makes a good case for the new Indian Air Force (IAF) contest for 110 fighter aircraft.

Asked about the apparent conversion of the contest from one that was expected to be a single-engine fighter acquisition to plausibly all six MMRCA (Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft) contenders, Lall told StratPost, “We’re happy to meet anyone at altitude,” adding, “I’m happy that the RFI is out and we’re happy to respond to it.”

“It looks like a fairly detailed RFI, which is great. This is a Request For Information and so the net has been cast wide and that’s appreciated. I think the more the competition, the better. India can then home in on exactly the capability it wants. But the RFI is detailed enough, where it’s quite clear in terms of what kind of operational capability is required,” said Lall.

But the RFI could also result in a clarification of the IAF’s requirements and paring of the competition. “I think the key is at some point the RFI will be converted to — go to the next stage of RFP. That would be interesting to see. Once the collection of information is done, that’s a critical step in the process — where you go from there,” he said.

Lall has a three-point pitch for the F-16. “There are three elements to why we have a very competitive proposal that addresses, not only the Indian Air Force’s requirements, but also the Government of India’s initiatives for Make in India and export,” he said.

F-16 Block 70

“One is the aircraft itself — the F-16 Block 70 — its performance, its capabilities match with what the air force desires and I think we have a very compelling capability especially with its mission systems, AESA radar, its commonality with F-22 and F-35 and so I think it’s the most capable platform in the competition form a capability standpoint. The other aspect of it is that a single engine fighter is 30 to 40 percent less expensive, operationally, than a twin engine. And there’s a US DoD Comptroller report on that. So the data is out there,” he emphasized.

Share this: Tweet





WhatsApp

Email

Print

