The Indian Air Force has fine-tuned and revived a shot-in-the-dark requirement it floated back in 2012 for electronic snooping aircraft, specifically for signal intelligence (SIGINT) and communications jamming (COMJAM) duties. The fresh requirement is for a small fleet of specially kitted out twin-engine jets with an onus on Indian-built equipment. While the Indian Air Force will operate the aircraft, their missions are to be administered by the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), India’s principal technical intelligence agency. The revived requirement has also reduced the number of required aircraft from nine to seven and is targeted primarily at Indian firms or consortiums, though a final RFP could well be a global one.
Livefist has learnt that unlike the 2012 bid that never really took off, the government now intends to push forward the contest with a possible RFP in the second quarter of 2018 and a stipulated delivery start 24 months from contract signature.
The request for information published by the Indian Air Force details the requirement as follows: Five aircraft should be suitably integrated by the OEM and certified for the SIGINT and COMJAM roles. Two aircraft should be certified to perform the SIGINT role. The basic platform for all the seven aircraft is to be the same platform and is to comply with FAA/JAAR or equivalent standards. The role equipment and role performance is to comply with related Mil STD/equivalent stipulations. The installation, integration and certification in respect of all role equipment are the responsibility of vendor.
It would be interesting to see what aircraft platforms the IAF could be looking forward to. Twin engine jets it currently operates include the Embraer EMB-145 and Boeing 737.
from Livefist http://ift.tt/2uCfAsN
via Live Defense
No comments: