>The Indian Navy wants 'day and night capable, all weather multi-role deck based combat aircraft which can be used for air defence, air-to-surface operations, buddy refuelling, reconnaissance, electronic warfare missions' from its aircraft carriers.
Cutting down competition as of now to just two fighters -- F-16 by Lockheed Martin and Gripen by Saab -- Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said India will select one more single engine aircraft other than Tejas for indigenous manufacture under 'Make in India' route.
The defence ministry took the decision to hold the biennial event as scheduled following inputs from major stakeholders including the domestic defence industry and global aerospace majors, official sources said.
The MoD panel had submitted its report in March 2015, weeks before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India would procure 36 jets.
The IAF has just 33 squadrons, 9 short of the 42 squadrons needed to tackle China and Pakistan together, says Ajai Shukla.
So, how does Pompeo's check list look like? In a broad sense, he is coming here 'to make sure that we have economic openness'; to ensure that 'we have to deliver'; to understand that 'we have to execute' what we promised to do; and, to 'broach some tough topics', points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The government has cleared the lone bid of Airbus-TATA consortium for replacing Indian Air Force's fleet of ageing Avro transport aircraft for Rs 11,930 crore besides approving Russia's offer to build Kamov Ka-226T helicopters under 'Make in India' initiative.
'Anyone who should be worried about or critical about this new capability of the Indian Air Force, it should be those who want to threaten our territorial integrity'
'We were against politicisation of the defence acquisition process. It was a question of capability of the air force'
Top HAL sources say the AMCA, which is being developed as the IAF's next-generation stealth fighter, is slated to be assembled at HAL Nashik.
Pompeo will travel to India, Sri Lanka, Japan and South Korea from June 24 to 30. His four-nation is aimed at deepening US partnerships in the strategic Indo-Pacific region.
It is learnt that the Aeronautical Development Agency, which oversees the development of Tejas, has put together a flying routine that 'significantly surpasses any aerobatics display the fighter has presented earlier'.
United States Defence Secretary Lloyd J Austin arrived in India on Friday on a three-day visit, aimed at further boosting bilateral defence and security ties in the wake of China's growing military assertiveness in the region including the Indo-Pacific.
The Trump regime has informed the Congress that it 'strongly supports' transfers of F-18 and F-16 fighter proposals put forth by Boeing and Lockheed Martin respectively.
With the IAF having rejected variants of 4 of the contending aircraft -- the Super Hornet, F-16, Gripen C/D and MiG-35 -- in flight trials carried out between 2009-2011 in the MMRCA tender, are the current contenders improved enough to pass flight trials conducted to the same standards?
The 'Make in India' concept in the defence sector has the potential to help India meet 70 per cent of its defence needs in a few years.
Amazon committed a fresh investment of $3 billion, in addition to the $2 billion it announced in 2014.
The Raksha Mantri was unable to address media queries about how much the Modi government was paying for 36 Rafales compared to what the UPA government had negotiated.
The prospects of India becoming a credible manufacturer of defence platforms or major weapon systems for export are remote, says Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
'It appears that Prime Minister Modi has to undo 50 years of State monopoly in the defence sector during which public undertakings like HAL or DRDO monopolised defence production and development with disastrous consequences.'
The elephant in the room will permeate the conversations, predicts Rup Narayan Das.
Here is an explainer and a timeline relating to India's purchase of 36 combat jets.
The aircraft flew out from the airbase in the French port city of Bordeaux and will cover a distance of nearly 7,000 km with air-to-air refuelling and a single stop in the United Arab Emirates before arriving at Ambala airbase on Wednesday, officials said.
'India-US defence pacts are seen by many analysts as a subtle move to jointly contain China's growing militarism, especially in the strategic Indian Ocean Region.'
'Biden's promise of returning to 'normalcy' after Trump appears to mean that the same old politicians, who are responsible for the 'endless wars' in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, are being brought out of the woodwork after four years,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Even as three Rafale fighters line up in Bengaluru for eye-popping aerobatics displays at the Aero India 2015 exhibition this week, senior ministry of defence sources say the proposal to buy the French fighter is "effectively dead".
The fleet landed at Al Dhafra airbase on Monday in the United Arab Emirates after flying for over seven hours from the Merignac airbase. It was the only stopover by the jets while flying from France to India.
'Alas, the Congress party offers no suggestions as to how to unscramble the omlette it cooked during 2004-2014 on which the Modi government may have since lavishly spread some tomato ketchup,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
In the light of India's increasingly 'darkening' threat environment and the convergence of strategic interests between China and Pakistan, the IAF's declining combat capabilities are a cause for concern, says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'It is hard to justify $225 million a plane for an increasingly obsolete mission.' The purchase of the 36 Rafales has changed little for the IAF.
I still believe that it is a good thing that think tanks are mushrooming in Delhi. They provide a platform for discussion, even if they shed more heat than light. With Parliament almost incapable of serious debate, informed discussion and civilised discourse, where does this nation get its intellectual churn, asks Mohan Guruswamy.
'India placed the order, primarily due to the IAF's 'critical operational necessity'.' 'The complexity of the IAF's requirements delayed the process for months.' 'It is these requirements which cannot be made public.' 'Can you image Indian politicians publicly discussing the pros and the cons of such military equipment?' 'It would provide India's enemies with indications about the IAF's tactical plans in case of a conflict.' 'It is crucial that they should remain secret to protect India's defence preparedness,' explains Claude Arpi.
'Under the present Defence Procurement Procedure, it would have been a nightmare, and a long, long one at that, to build 108 Rafales in India. Modi realised this and took the wise decision, though it is a definitive setback for his Make in India scheme.'
'IAF is expanding at a rapid pace'
