Game on, six vendors in contest to supply IAF with 110 fighters

Experts calculate final contract price of $10.66 to $19.46 billion

Six of the world’s premier fighter aircraft vendors – American companies Boeing and Lockheed Martin, Russian Aircraft Corporation, Dassault of France, Swedish firm Saab and European consortium, Eurofighter GmbH – have submitted responses to an Indian “request for information” (RFI), kicking off the purchase of 110 fighters for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

The IAF had put out a detailed, 73-page RFI on April 6, giving “original equipment manufacturers” (OEMs) and “government sponsored export agencies” three months to submit their responses. Friday was the last date.

There are four twin-engine aircraft in the fray: the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Block III,