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Indian air force Mirage 2000H fighter aircraft upgrade deal is key to defence and strategic partnership with India

By Caroline Mittermair for CEOWORLD Magazine Updated:December 11, 2009

Israel has offered to upgrade 50 French Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft currently being used by the Indian air force (IAF) and 18 Spyder quick-reaction surface-to-air missiles (QR-SAMs) from the Indian Army. The upgrade would include new radars, superior avionics, electronic warfare systems and onboard computers, which will make the aircraft battle worthy for another 15 years.

The close-range missile defence systems are meant as a protective shield for the army’s critical immovable assets. Initial offer to upgrade Mirage 2000 was Rs 13,500 crores ($2.9 billion), French aerospace major, Thales ( EPA:HO) came down to Rs 10,000 crores ($2.1 billion).

Israel Aircraft Industries has offered 40 per cent less than the price quoted by the French. Cost of the Israeli bid totals Rs 96 crore per aircraft while the French bid is worth Rs 152 crore. Indian air force has three squadrons of Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft, including 42 single-seaters and 7 two-seaters.

Dassault Mirage 2000 is a French multirole, single-engine fourth-generation jet fighter manufactured by Dassault Aviation (EPA:AM). India has announced a $1.9 billion program to arm 51 of its Mirage 2000 aircraft with the MBDA ASRAAM dogfighting missile beginning in 2007. This will give the jets multi-role capability with longer-range radars and fire-and-forget missiles, enabling the aircraft to perform a given mission thanks to greater fuel and weapon-delivery capacities.

The IAF has a global tender for 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft in a deal valued at $10 billion. Six jets are in the fray: the US Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet and the Lockheed Martin F-16, the French Dassault Rafale, the Swedish Saab Grippen, the Russian MiG-35 and the Eurofighter Typhoon built by a four-nation European consortium.

Upgrades to its ageing Mirage 2000s are essential as India tries to plug a capability gap ahead of the new fighters’ arrival around 2014, and amid continued delays to its Aeronautical Development Agency Tejas light combat aircraft.

Under the Thales proposal, the company would deliver the first two aircraft from its facilities in France within 40 months of the signing of the contract, and would simultaneously assist Hindustan Aircraft Limited (HAL) in upgrading another two aircraft in India in the same time frame. Thereafter, HAL would upgrade one of the remaining 47 aircraft every month.

The upgrades include:

- New avionics, including an advanced navigation system, mission computers, Mil 1553 B data with Digibus, a pulse doppler radar that can find objects out to 70 nautical miles

- Two displays and an advanced head-down display in a glass cockpit

- Electronic warfare systems, including new radar warning receivers with instantaneous wide-bank receivers, an integrated missile warning receiver with continuous time-to-impact information, and new jammers and countermeasure systems

- Increased fuel capacity

- Four Derby beyond-visual-range missiles

- Two short-to-medium-range Python V missiles

- Long-range smart munitions

- Full mission simulators

The upgraded aircraft will have a warranty of 24 months or 360 operational hours.

Mirage 2000 is a multi-role combat fighter from Dassault Aviation of France. It has been operational with the French Air Force since 1984, and has been selected by Abu Dhabi, Egypt, Greece, India, Peru, Qatar, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates.

Indian air force (IAF) has had a ‘good’ experience with the fighters, which successfully carried out ‘targeted bombings’ during the 1999 Kargil conflict.

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