Rafale M vs F/A 18 Super Hornets: Navy to Soon Pick for Aircraft-carrier-borne Fighters Plan

The Navy will likely ink a deal to acquire either the French Rafale M or the US F/A 18 Super Hornets for its long-pending aircraft-carrier-borne fighter jets programme through an intergovernmental agreement and will make the final decision on the number of fighter jets it seeks to buy based on their trial reports that are expected to be finalised shortly, senior Navy officers said on Tuesday.

The operational demonstrations for the two aircraft were conducted over the past few months from the shore-based test facility at INS Hansa in Goa to display their capabilities to take off from the aircraft carriers in use with the Navy.

While the plans were to procure 57 deck-based fighters for the aircraft carriers, the Navy had changed it to 26. The move, sources told News18, was based on the decision to procure indigenous deck-based fighters in the future.

Addressing the media ahead of a Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO) seminar “Swavlamban” scheduled on July 18-19 in New Delhi, Vice Admiral Satish Namdeo Ghormade said the target is to ensure maximum indigenisation by the Navy.

“We will decide on the numbers. Our requirement is for twin-engine deck-based fighters, which the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) is making. It is taking some time, but till that happens, we will take a call between the two fighters based on the operational demonstration report,” he said, adding that the contract will aim to benefit the Indian defence industry ecosystem.

INS Vikramaditya and the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) 1—to be called INS Vikrant—once it is commissioned by August 15 this year, are the two aircraft carriers with the Indian Navy. A third envisaged by the Navy is still on the drawing board.

“There has been an op-demo by Dassault Rafale and Boeing F-18. Trials are done. The report is yet to come in on the op-demo. Once that comes in we will do a staff evaluation. Preferably it will be an IGA (intergovernmental agreement) case. That is the recommendation from the Navy,” said Commodore (Air Acquisition) Pankaj Chauhan.

At present, the Russian MiG 29K aircraft operates from INS Vikramaditya, some of which are set to be decommissioned within a decade.

Talking about the seminar later this month, Vice Admiral Ghormade also said that an unclassified version of the ‘Unmanned Roadmap’ will be unveiled during the event.

“This has been made specifically for the industry and gives the complete details (including numbers) of planned inductions along with timelines so that the industry knows where to focus their R&D efforts. This is something that the industry has been wanting for some time,” he said.

Navy sources said that this would cover aerial, surface, and underwater assets that the Navy seeks to buy in the future.