By VIVEK RAGHUVANSHI
NEW DELHI — India is on a global hunt to procure nine medium range maritime reconnaissance (MRMR) aircraft equipped with anti-ship missiles.
The tender, worth more than $2 billion, was sent to overseas defense majors Alenia of Italy; US-based Boeing and Lockheed Martin; Saab of Sweden; Germany’s EADS, France-based Dassault; Embraer of Brazil and Bombardier of Canada.
The latest global tender is a rebid of tender floated in 2008 to buy six MRMR aircraft. That was withdrawn later because none of the vendors could meet the qualitative requirements of the tender.
In the latest tender, the nine MRMR aircraft will replace the Indian Navy’s Islanders (BN-21A) surveillance aircraft, which were used for coastal surveillance for many decades. The Islander aircraft, bought in 1976, will be given to the Coast Guard or could even be gifted to foreign countries,said an Indian Defence Ministry source. India has already donated two Islander aircraft to Myanmar.
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