India plans to lease A330MRTT

The Bharatiya Vayu Sena (IAF, Indian Air Force) has approached the French government to lease one Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft for training purposes as a precursor to lease five more A330MRTTs for increasing the combat capability and radius of its multi-role fighters.

On 4 February 2021, Scramble Magazine reported that India is looking for leasing air refuelling aircraft. Airbus Defence & Space and Boeing were approached for financial quotes and during the Aero India 2021 show, Airbus seemed to emerge as a front runner for this lucrative contract.

The leasing will be done on government-to-government basis with the IAF already issuing a request for information (RFI) for a single aircraft while a request for proposals route will be used for the additional five MRTTs. The issue was discussed during Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria’s visit to France last week. The leasing period will be for ten years.

A330MRTTs from the Armée de l'Air et de l'Espace (French Air and Space Force) and the United Arab Emirates Air Force (UAEAF) have been used to ferry seventeen Dassault Rafale fighters to India from Bordeaux/Mérignac (France) since July 2020. Another seven Rafales fighters are due to arrive in India in May.

The IAF is currently operating six Ilyushin Il-78MKI refuelling aircraft with 78 Squadron Valorous MARS at Agra Air Force Station. The type is reported to face maintenance and serviceability issues, causing the shortage in mid-air refuelling capability. Next to fuel load, the A330MRTT can also carry troops and weapon pay-load on roll-on-roll-off basis. In case of the Il-78MKI, there are limitations on load carrying as well as taking off with payload from high mountain bases like in Leh and Thoise. The A330MRTT can operate with load in the thin atmosphere of Ladakh and beyond and supply fuel to IAF fighter aircraft at Himalayan heights.

Photo by Kev Daws (Scramble Archive)