Airbus Enters India's Fighter Jet Race with Upgraded Eurofighter

Airbus is vying for India's massive aircraft procurement deal, offering a dramatically upgraded version of its Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet. India aims to purchase 114 new jets, and Airbus believes the Tranche-5 Typhoon's cutting-edge technology makes it the ideal choice.

This latest iteration of the Eurofighter boasts a powerful AESA radar system, giving pilots unparalleled awareness of the battlefield. The Tranche-5 upgrade also includes updates to the fighter's defensive systems, communications, and pilot interface, designed to boost the pilot's effectiveness in combat.

Airbus is committed to making the Eurofighter a future-proof aircraft. The Tranche-5 model being offered to India incorporates technology developed as part of the Long Term Evolution (LTE) initiative. LTE focuses on advancements in mission systems, pilot interfaces, operational flexibility, and engine performance. These improvements will not only enhance the Eurofighter's capabilities but also position it to play a key role in Europe's Future Combat Air System (FCAS).

Beyond technology, the Eurofighter packs a punch. The proposed Indian model will carry a fearsome mix of air-to-air missiles like the AMRAAM, ASRAAM, IRIS-T, and AIM-9L, as well as various laser-guided bombs. This versatility means the Typhoon is adaptable to a wide range of missions. It's also capable of flying long distances with external fuel tanks certified for supersonic flight and can be refueled in mid-air for even greater range.

The Eurofighter faces stiff competition in India's procurement process. Previously, the French Rafale fighter won a similar competition based largely on its lower cost. The Rafale's cost-effectiveness stems from its single-nation development, unlike the multinational effort behind the Eurofighter. A recent report highlights how a lack of new orders for the Eurofighter could jeopardize the jet's long-term production. Airbus is keen to secure this Indian contract to ensure the future of this potent warplane.

The Eurofighter Typhoon is a technologically sophisticated aircraft with proven combat experience. With its advanced technology, focus on future development, and powerful weapons systems, the Typhoon is a serious contender to be India's next-generation fighter jet.

 

[Pink Panther]

Dont worry MRFA will hapen may Late , India need A Fighter jet under MRFA & Most Likely Rafale may b Winner.

We don't have $45Bln for 114 Rafale's.

 

[Sunnyj]

EF has better and more weapons, can fly higher and faster, better targeting pod. Rafale is more agile, cheaper both in price and operating costs, single country vendor, AC variant available.Both are stupidly expensive so my choice is Tejas mk1a, mk2, Super Sukhoi, maybe Mighty Mig??

 

[Pink Panther]

Block 5 Euro fighter is the most advanced 4.5 gen plane on the planet, why would they kick it out??

Rafale and Typhoon are the most expensive 4th gen foreign jets to operate and maintain.

 

[Pink Panther]

That's because UK is not upgrading on new version standard that's why their old tranche 1 and 2 are mostly out of order availability 😹😹😹😹 get your comment correct bruh...
To be honest UK got lazy to buy more parts and new version of eurotyphoon, main reason is peacetime and no total all out war

They neither want to upgrade them or give them to Ukraine.

 

[Pink Panther]

Too many countries working on eurofighter project India will need to negotiate with many countries to source parts and stuff

Typhoon should be the first one to kickout and Rafale the second one, they both cost a fortune to buy and to operate, both won’t give access to the source code to integrate Indian weapons.

 

[Pink Panther]

Spending 25 billion on MRFA project can India afford instead going for another 54 advance version of Rafale aircrafts would be better & keep adding more advance Tejas version as last order for Rafale by UAE cost them 18 billions for 80 aircrafts coming to nearly 1880 crore per aircraft & as per some estimates building them in India can be more expensive than importing than IAF should insist on asking France to import more parts for building Rafale from India government should concentrate more on advance radar for detecting stealth aircrafts & more air defence systems which we can see from Ukraine & Israel wars

54 would cost $20Bln., why waste so much money on a 4th gen platform.

 

[Pink Panther]

Well if you remove the weapons and some of the other elements, I think we can get the plain Rafales and the infrastructure for 150 million dollars or less. Not too bad, considering we are paying 73 million USD for Tejas mk1a itself,

But we can’t wait for 15 Years, world is moving towards WW3, Serbia ordered 12 Rafales yesterday, so the backlog now is 312 and many more countries will order before we decide to order, we can’t wait another 25 years for a 4th gen jet, so Tejas MK2 is the only viable option for us if it is not a urgent 5th gen aircraft procurement due to increased threat level, also I don’t France will make Rafales in India when there is severe joblessness in France due to bad economy.

 

[Sandeep]

Again the same B S. Was RFI issued for SEF? So how can it be cancelled?

And easily manufacture? HAL will take at least 50 years to make those many mk2. They can’t even make 8 trainers in a whole year and you are talking about ‘easily’ manufacturing 400 mk2? What substance are you high on?

Again the government had a competition on the single engine fighter and had already issued its RFI with a foreign company. As soon as Tejas 1 was flying and its technology matured then it was scrapped.

Again you seem to think that HAL has to be the only manufacturer of Tejas 1. The government can issue a license to several private sector companies who can make it as well to boost the numbers. Also I’m talking about the price comparison on the number of jets that we can make at a cheaper cost than a foreign expensive jet program.

 

[Pad UwU]

They neither want to upgrade them or give them to Ukraine.

The UK government upgrade the still newer one that can be upgradable into tranche 3 if my memory serves me right...the other older ones are in storage maybe for cannibalizing parts... That's why 50% of their fleets is not available.... If hunch is right they are full throttling all the way into 6gen aircraft because ie if GCAP(let's say minimum of $100m) maircraft acts a mother's of f35($65~120m a piece) with a bunch of GCAP drones ( $15~25m a pice) carrier missile that have capabilities of and mini AWACS, a electronic warfare growler like... Would a scary especially GCAP member UK is also pushing a AI co pilot and semi/full autonomous ability.... If they successfully develop and manufacture in in 2035 that would be a game changer against pseudo/full 5gen and 4/4.5gen in pricing, maintenance, capabilities and manpower...

To be honest they will never donate typhoons to Ukraine... Mostly Ukrainian can speak or understand English quietly. 2nd the interface of typhoon is different from the ones they been use to like the migs and sukhois... Training them with typhoon would be a waste of time and would make Russian happy seeing Zelensky smaller manpower 😹😹😹😹

 

[Anant]

They neither want to upgrade them or give them to Ukraine.

The reason they aren't handing over the Typhoon to Ukraine is the same as the reason why France isn't sending the Mirage 2000. Both Air Forces are already short of jets, and while older jets can theoretically be sent, both types are only operated by relatively few nations, and developing the infrastructure to operate such a small number of jets may not be feasible for Ukraine presently.

Do remember that France has decided not to transfer ex-UAE Mirage 2000s to Ukraine (which they planned to do by purchasing them once the UAE started retiring them in 2026 or so). Instead, they have green-lit the transfer of 30 aircraft to Morocco, and are considering green-lighting the transfer another 26 to Egypt, which leaves just 3 in the UAEAF inventory.

 

[Anant]

Order 300 Tejas mk2 and cancel phoren maal MRFA...

The delivery timeline will be same anyway

Plus price of 300 mk2<<<<104..

Nonsense! A single Tejas Mk 1A without weapons or spares is costing us just under 80 million USD, while a Rafale with weapons and the like is not going to cross 250 million USD. The Tejas Mk 2 will be considerably more expensive than the Mk 1A, so there goes your math down the drain.

As for why MRFA cannot be cancelled, I have already stated it on multiple occasions that there are a lot of bottlenecks beyond HAL's control in the production process, and capacity bottlenecks will soon force a reduction in output. You can order 3000 Tejas Mk 2 for all I care, but that doesn't mean you'll get them all in the next 20 years.

 

[Anant]

I’m saying the tender is open as a backup at the very least and mostly to keep our good relationship with foreign countries happy. With Tejas 1 had its flight we scrapped the single engine fighter straight away and they will do the same when Tejas 2 will take flight and the technology is proven. Thinking strategically it suits us to focus on our own indigenous products than spending over $20 billion where we can easily manufacture around 400 Tejas MK2 and more.

20 billion USD would be sufficient for 400 Tejas Mk 2 and more? That works out to less than 50 million USD each. Need I remind you that the recent Tejas Mk 1A order puts them at about 80 million USD each?

 

[Anant]

We don't have $45Bln for 114 Rafale's.

And who told you that they would cost 45 billion USD? Even with weapons and the like, once you factor in bulk discounts, the price isn't likely to go past 25-30 billion USD, even with local production. Shave off another 5-8 billion USD or so if you just buy them off-the-shelf.