To arrest the decline in strength, the IAF is in the middle of negotiations with the Qatari Air Force for 12 used Mirage-2000 fighters.

The Qatari aircraft will come in with missiles and additional engines. The sources said that these aircraft have nearly 50 percent of their lifespan left and are maintained well by Qatar which now operates the Rafale, the Typhoon and the F-15.

However, these aircraft are not at the same standard as the upgraded Mirage-2000s that the IAF operates.

The sources explained it would be foolish to upgrade them since the cost would be very high and hence could be operated as a separate squadron. Since the cockpit and some other systems on board were different, the pilots would have to undergo certain training to fly them.

While these are all stop gap arrangements, what the IAF is really hoping for is the 114 multi-role fighter aircraft (MRFA), for which they had issued a Request for Proposal (RFI) a few years back.

However, the air force is yet to get clearance from the government to pursue the project and issue a tender. The main contenders for this project are — Rafale, F-15EX, Gripen, and F-21.

The front runner to bag the contract is the French Rafale fighter jets, 36 of which were inducted into the IAF under an emergency procurement in 2016.

Agencies