New Delhi: US Aerospace Company Boeing is open to leasing KC-46 tanker, a derivative of the Boeing 767 passenger aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF), which is seeking quotes for mid-air refuelers.
Torbjorn Sjogren, VP, International Government and Defence, Boeing Global Services, said, “We are in talks with the IAF for KC-46 tanker. There is a requirement for air-to-air refueling and we are working through certain issues. We are open to leasing these tankers. We already lease commercial aircraft to various domestic airlines in India; we understand there is provision for leasing military platforms in the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP).”
Comparing Boeing’s KC-46 with the European aerospace major Airbus’ A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT), Sjogren, said, “There is a need for mid-air refuelers in India. What we are offering can operate out of both big and small airports. This means that operational cost will be less compared to others. Boeing’s KC-46 is more of a combat tanker.”
The tanker being offered by Boeing has been designed to operate in nuclear and bio environments. And because of its size, the tanker in a war like situation can land and take off from over more than 100 airstrips.
India has six Russian IIyushin-78 tankers which were first inducted in service in 2003. These have now aged and need a lot of maintenance and servicing.
The need for tankers is also felt as these add range-enhancing capability to fighters, which helps the pilots carry out strikes at longer ranges and also stay in-flight without requiring landing and refueling.
The IAF has the new Rafale fighters from France which has a long range capability because it can be refueled midair. Same is the case with the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk 1A, which has capability of refueling mid-air.
A new provision made in the Defence Acquisition Procedure-2020 (DAP-2020) would enable the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in future to acquire and operate military assets -equipment and platforms- by taking them on lease from the Indian and foreign sources, without owning them.
“Outright purchase of assets requires the entire capital cost -quite substantial in most cases- to be paid during the delivery period of the contract. This initial cost would get staggered, in the event it is found viable to take the asset on lease, as rental payment will be spread over the entire period of the lease, making it a more viable option for the MoD which has been facing acute budgetary constraints,” Amit Cowshish, former Financial Advisor (Acquisition), Ministry of Defence, tells Financial Express Online.
According to him, “The MoD may consider taking an asset on lease if outright procurement is not feasible due to constraint of time, if it is needed in limited numbers for a specific period, or the asset may remain underutilised if procured. An asset may also be taken on lease for gaining operational experience or to meet any other operational exigency. It could be an operating or a finance lease. Typically, the ownership of the asset is retained during and after the lease term by the lessor under an operating lease agreement, whereas under a finance lease agreement, the asset is transferred to the lessee when the lease ends.”
