SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG
In a significant development aimed at addressing the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) critical shortage of fighter jets, the Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) Request for Proposal (RFP) is likely to be issued to select vendors by the end of 2025 or early 2026. This accelerated timeline follows the recommendations of a high-level committee formed to tackle the dwindling fighter squadron strength of the IAF. According to sources within the IAF, as reported by idrw.org, the committee has proposed a streamlined process that eliminates several rounds of clearance, replacing them with a single clearance mechanism to expedite the tendering process.
The IAF currently operates at a squadron strength of around 30, significantly below its sanctioned level of 42 squadrons, a gap that has raised concerns amid growing regional security challenges. The MRFA program, which seeks to procure 114 multi-role fighter jets, has been in the pipeline for years but has faced delays due to the complexities of the tendering process. Traditionally, the issuance of an RFP—a document often spanning thousands of pages—requires exhaustive examination of proposals submitted by multiple vendors, a process that can take years.
However, the committee has recommended a more efficient approach that could cut down the tendering timeline by three to four years. Instead of subjecting all vendors’ proposals to a lengthy review, the IAF plans to move directly to limited trials of the jets on offer after issuing the RFP. These trials will focus on assessing whether the aircraft meet the IAF’s technical requirements. Based on the trial outcomes, the IAF will shortlist two vendors whose jets best align with its needs, significantly reducing the number of proposals requiring detailed scrutiny.
In past procurement processes, vendors have submitted proposals running into 5,000 to 8,000 pages, a volume that necessitates months, if not years, of detailed examination by evaluation teams. With five to six fighter jets likely to be in contention for the MRFA program—including contenders like the Dassault Rafale, Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, Lockheed Martin F-21, Saab Gripen E, and Eurofighter Typhoon—this exhaustive review process has often led to significant delays. The IAF’s new approach aims to bypass this bottleneck by limiting the in-depth examination to only the two shortlisted vendors.
According to IAF sources cited by idrw.org, this streamlined process will reduce the time required for RFP document examination from over a year to just a few weeks. Once the two vendors are selected, their proposals will be studied in detail, and negotiations will be opened to seek clarifications on their offers, including technology transfer, local production, and cost. This focused approach ensures that the IAF can move swiftly toward declaring a winner without getting bogged down in the minutiae of multiple voluminous proposals.
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