India has officially ended its Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) programme with the formal withdrawal of a request for proposals covering the acquisition of 126 new fighters for the nation's air force. Defence minister Manohar Par-rikar told the country's parliament it was no longer proceeding with the requirement - nominally won by the Dassault Rafale - which would have seen a large number of aircraft produced in-country. The cancellation of India's 2007 tender has been long expected, with April seeing Prime Minister Narendra Modi announce, during a visit to France, that India would only acquire 36 of the Rafales shortlisted in 2012 for the MMRCA programme.
展开▼
