MMRCA, the bids will be opened in 10 days

"The process for acquisition of the MMRCA is on its last lap and we should be able to open the bids in 10 days time from now" Indian Air Force chief, Norman Anil Kumar Browne said today during the 79th IAF anniversary celebration.

Yesterday, October 7th, the Defense Acquisition Council approved the offset proposals of both Dassault Aviation and Eurofighter Gmbh. This decision, eventually secures the selection of the Rafale and Typhoon made by the IAF on April 27th.

According to  Browne, determining the lowest bidder (L1) should take another 2 or 3 weeks after the bids opening because it requires complex calculations (life-cycle cost, aquisition cost and technology transfer)

"In the middle of November, we shall be able to announce to the whole world which plane we have selected, the L1 vendor"  he said

So the final stage of the MMRCA seems very clear now :

• Opening of the bids around October 18th (10 days from now)
• Anouncement of the MMRCA winner between November 7th and November14th. (2-3 weeks to calculate the lowest bid)
• Contract signed before the end of 2011 (As announced by India Defense Minister)
• First deliveries by late 2014, early 2015 (36 months after the contract is signed)

Also read : Previous RafaleNews MMRCA related posts

sources :
economictimes.indiatimes.com
ibnlive.in.com
thehindu.com
livefist.blogspot.com