India’s Ministry of Defence has launched a procurement programme for airlift capabilities for ferrying Very Important Persons (VIPs) and has asked both foreign and Indian aircraft makers to submit proposals for supplying long-range business jets for the Indian Air Force (IAF).
The Defence Ministry has issued a Request for Information (RFI) for procurement of modern aircraft to replace its existing fleet of VIP transport aircraft in its IAF Air Headquarters Communication Squadron for the use of India’s President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Defence Minister, and the armed forces chiefs.
The new VIP aircraft would also be used by India’s Home, Finance and External Affairs Ministers, who are all members of the Cabinet Committee on Security, the nation’s top national security decision-making body.
The acquisition proposal is to replace the existing fleet of Embraer Legacy 600 aircraft fleet operated by the Air Headquarters Communication Squadron, but not the three Boeing 777 VVIP aircraft, popularly referred to as India 1, 2 and 3 used by the President, Vice President and the Prime Minister, according to officials with knowledge of the matter.
Once the responses for the RFI is received, the bidding firms’ offerings would be evaluated for the aircraft’s operational range, security features, compliance with military standards, and long-term support, the officials said.
The RFI is the first stage in a long-drawn procurement process under the Defence Acquisition Procedure, though no timeframe has been fixed for the Defence Ministry to decide on issuing the Request for Proposals, which is officialese for tender, under the phased and structured procurement process.
The IAF’s Air Headquarters Communication Squadron currently operated four Embraer Legacy 600 aircraft that were inducted into the service in September 2005. These aircraft are coded as H3601 Meghdoot, K3602 Vayudoot, K3603 Nabhdoot, and K3604 Gagandoot, according to officials.
The Embraer Legacy 600 jets had replaced the Avro HS 748 aircraft and have served for over 20 years now with the IAF Air Headquarters Communication Squadron, also known as the Pegasus, stationed at Air Force Base at Palam in New Delhi, they noted.
The Pegasus’ role extended beyond ferrying India’s top government dignitaries and maintained a readiness for both domestic and international missions, earning a distinctive position within the IAF for its specialised cargo responsibilities.
The Embraer Legacy 600 jets came with self-protection suites, designed to counter missile attacks on it and to operate from short runway airfields.
But the over 20-year service of these aircraft’s airframes have resulted in higher sustainment cost, and the jets have outlived their utility considering the technological developments that aren’t adequate to meet the present day security environment.
This situation has driven the air force to seek new, modern aircraft to meet the current requirements, resulting in a review of the present fleet and the decision to replace them with newer jets, officials said.