India withdraws RfP for newer Jaguar engine

(India Strategic) : New Delhi. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has withdrawn the Request for Proposals (RfP) for re-engining the Indian Air Force’s Jaguar aircraft after one of the two contenders opted out..

The RfP was issued to Honeywell, which had offered its F 125 IN engine and Rolls Royce whose Adour 811 has powered the aircraft since its induction in the IAF.
IAF has about 125 Jaguars, described as Deep Penetration Strike Aircraft (DPSA) when the order was given in the late 1970s. But it has become old, and the engine is regarded as underpowered to meet current requirements. A decision was taken a few years back to install more powerful engines to utilize the residual life of the airframe, and an RfP was issued on 26 November 2010.
The two companies were given time till 22 April 2011 to submit the RfPs.
But Rolls Royce withdrew recently from the competition, saying it had offered to upgrade the Adour 811 to Adour 821 while the RfPwas for reengining. There was no official word though from the company.
The resultant single vendor has situation forced the Ministry of Defence to cancel the RfP, and a cancellation letter was sent on 28 March.
Aour 821 powers the Advanced Jet Trainer Hawk, which both the IAF and Indian Navy are already buying. Privately, Rolls Royce sources say that a single engine for Jaguar and Hawk fleets would be cost effective in maintenance terms.

Mr Pritam Bhavnani, President of Honeywell Aerospace India, said that “Honeywell’s F 125 IN engine generates 30 per cent more thrust than the competition, and we do hope that our technical superiority will be our winning edge.”

IAF is now expected to make a fresh submission to the MoD to restart the process. If IAF chooses to go ahead with only one engine maker, then it has to go through the concerned government, either to buy the engine through an FMS type of deal or on commercial terms from the concerned company.

Mr Bhavnani said that Honeywell was supposed to give a demonstration to the IAF as part of the selection process after the RfPs were submitted. Although, the RfP has been withdrawn, Honeywell is continuing work to fine-tune the engine for this demonstration as and when it takes place.

“We are ready when IAF is, and we will prove the operational advantages of the F 125 IN engine.” Honeywell has already tested the engine on an old Jaguar aircraft.

Mr Bhavnani also said that Honeywell was ready to share high levels of technologies with India, be they on aircraft or other systems.