India’s Aerial Tanker Competition
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The IAF already operates Russian IL-76 transports, and 6 related IL-78MK “Midas” aerial tankers. As the Indian Air Force inducts high-value aircraft grows, however, the need for aerial refueling tankers grows along with them. That’s why India planned to buy another 6 aerial tankers, in order to meet its modernization objectives.
In February 2006, “India’s Air Force Looks to Enhance Its Reach With Upgrades & Force Multipliers” discussed the IAF’s interest in buying modern aerial tankers, AWACS radar planes, maritime patrol aircraft, and other long-range, high-value aircraft. India is receiving IL-76TD/A-50i Phalcon AWACS aircraft from Israel, and has ordered Lockheed Martin’s MC-130J-30 Hercules for its special forces and Boeing’s 737-derived P-8i Poseidon for maritime patrol. A project is underway to develop a mid-size AWACS aircraft, and a competition will select a similar-sized maritime patrol plane to complement the new P-8is. The aerial tankers were a key piece of this puzzle, as they enhance the capability of nearly every other aircraft in this set, along with India’s fighter fleet.
Unfortunately, the Finance Ministry’s insistence on lowest purchase cost at the expense of all other considerations has reportedly scuttled the entire $1.5 billion aerial tanker follow-on program…
Enter Airbus
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Despite the IL-76 family’s strong position within the IAF, and an attractive price tag of well under $100 million for the base aircraft, reports from India indicated that Russia’s position as India’s top arms exporter was about to take another blow.
Airbus’ A330 Multi-Role Tanker/Transport (MRTT), which won the initial KC-X tanker competition in the USA, was reportedly about to win a EUR 1 billion order for 6 Indian aerial tankers. If so, India’s aerial tanker fleet would double to a mixed group of 12, while the A330 MRTT’s confirmed customer base would expand to include Australia, Britain, India, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
The A330’s biggest drawback is its lack of commonality with the IAF’s existing fleet, which creates additional burdens for maintenance and spares. On the other hand, that is not an insuperable barrier. Air India already operates the A330, and other buyers have leveraged their national airlines’ experience. Australia, for example, hired Quantas as its “KC-30B” maintenance provider. Given the historically poor performance of Russian suppliers, and India’s expectation that it would deploy its forces abroad more often in the coming years, that kind of maintenance arrangement was attractive to the IAF. The A330 would also offer them a more modern platform and engines, with good fuel economy and an advanced refueling system.
Contracts and Key Events
Jan 6/09: DNA India reports that India’s government has canceled the proposed program, after the Ministry of Finance insisted on “L1 norms” where the cheapest item that satisfies the criteria must be bought.
That means the IL-78, but the Indian Air Force had justified their A330-MRTT choice in a detailed written reply, based on superior technology, competitive through-life costs, and the ability to service it in India. That last provision would help to avoid the dismal in-service readiness record of Russian equipment, which generally has to be shipped to Russia and back if anything significant goes wrong. An IAF officer told DNA:
“For every bit of sophistication, we have to pay a price, and that makes a huge difference in the battlefield…. It would take us a few years now to select a tanker, unless they force us to buy the Russian tanker.”
The reason it would take years is because the tender would have to be started over again from the beginning, with criteria set up to exclude the IL-78 and favor the A330. This would achieve the same effect as complying with the IAF’s stated preferences, just force the service to jump through far more bureaucratic hoops before getting the aircraft it wants.
Dec 14/09: Reports surface that India’s mid-air refueling program may be canceled and rebid, following September 2009 objections from the Ministry of Finance over procedural maters, and the selection of Airbus over Russia’s IL-78. Brahmand Defence & Aerospace News | Indian Express | Defense News.
May 28/09: Pravda reports that India rejected the IL-78s because of they didn’t meet stated requisitions, but adds that Russia’s poor performance with spare parts supplies and after-sales service also played a role.
May 25/09: The Hindustan Times adds more fuel to the fire:
“In an exclusive interview to HT, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major said, “We have finished all evaluations and selected the A330 MRTT. The deal will come up for final approval by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) very soon. The Russian platform did not meet certain requirements.”
The report places the deal’s value at 48,000 crore, which would be INR 480 billion or $10.1 billion. It’s very likely that this is a typographical error. The actual value for a purchase of this type should be closer to $1 billion, a figure that was also used in the article.
Jan 4/09: India Defence reports that the IL-78 may be set to lose the IAF’s follow-on order. That order’s value is reported as EUR 1 billion, or about $1.3 billion at the time.
