DAC nod to bids for $10 billion MMRCA deal

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) on Friday gave a go-ahead to commercial bids for two short-listed vendors for $10 billion Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) deal.

The race to supply for 126 fighter jets is between two European offerings —  the French Rafale and the EuroFighter Typhoon, manufactured by European consortium.

A meeting of DAC, headed by director general acquisition, Vivek Rai, decided  to issue letters to vendors for opening of commercial proposals by the month end.

The EuroFighter and the Rafale are relatively new aircraft and according to the IAF, state-of-the-art. The EuroFighter has entered service with six air forces in the last few years and the Rafale is in service with the French Air Force.