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French Rafale out of race for IAF fighters
The French Rafale twin-engine multi-role fighter has been knocked off a $10-billion contract for 126 combat aircraft for the Indian Air Force. One of six contenders, Rafale was officially rejected by the Ministry of Defence for what an official called the failure to meet qualitative requirements of the contract.The IAF has been maintaining that all six contenders American F-18 and F-16, Eurofighter Typhoon, Russian MiG-35, Swedish Gripen NG and the Rafale for the Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contract have met technical requirements. But a senior official of the Ministry of Defence today said that Dassault Aviation's Rafale was rejected at the technical evaluation stage for failing to meet minimum performance requirements detailed in the tender document. Flight trials for the remaining five fighters are expected to commence within three months, the official said. Posted by: Steve White 2009-04-20 |
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