NEW DELHI, Dec 6: France is learnt to have offered India about seven years old six Airbus 330 Multi-Role-Transport Tanker (MRTT) aircrafts for mid-air refueling at heavily discounted prices to help expanding the strike capability of the Indian Air Force.
The official sources said India was considering the proposal which the IAF believe would be a win-win situation for both the countries. “The French proposal is a win-win for IAF as the international market for aerial platforms is down due to Covid-19 pandemic. The aircraft does not guzzle fuel and has high power engines to operate from high altitude air bases in Ladakh like Leh, Thoise and Nyoma at the same time transport troops or conduct medical evacuation if required,” the sources said.
The proposal, if accepted by India, would be executed on a government-to-government basis. The IAF presently operate seven Russian IL-76 M refuellers with Pakistan acquiring same four refuellers from Ukraine and China operating three same Russian refuellers along with vintage 10 other modified versions of Russian bombers.
The official sources said the IAF was eager to acquire MRTTs for a decade and wanted to get an Airbus 330 MRTT on wet lease from a British company. The French offer involving selling 5–7 years old aircrafts with certification of another 30 years of platform life at a much-reduced rate has come as a windfall for the IAF, the sources said.
The experts point out that the Airbus 330 MRTT platform has much larger wings of Airbus 340 as a result of which the aircraft can refuel two fighters mid-air at the same time through drogues (attached to wing pods) or a central refuelling boom system. The best part about the Airbus aircraft is that it can transport 260 personnel in cabin and fuel in the cargo hold due to highly efficient and high-powered engines. The MRTT can be turned into purely a tanker or transport or air ambulance or all three at the same time with a total crew of three making the md-air refuellers a key to expand operational envelope of the IAF and the Indian Navy carrier-based fighters by extending their striking range.
(Manas Dasgupta)