NEWS
The Indian Ministry of Defence is expected to soon decide the fate of a deal to procure 197 light utility helicopters for the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force (IAF). A few months ago, complaints were received about alleged deviations in tender norms during user trials of the participating companies. Two firms including European Eurocopter and Russian Kamov are participating in the tender for the supply of light utility helicopters to the two forces for replacing the fleet of vintage Cheetah/Chetak choppers procured in the 1970s. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Defence Minister A.K. Antony is expected to discuss the issue soon.

VIEWS
The Indian Army has been trying to replace its fleet of the ageing Cheetah and Chetak helicopters for nearly a decade. In 2007, the tender for 197 helicopters floated in 2003, had reached a stage where the Eurocopter AS 550 Fennec had emerged as the winner. However, following investigation into allegations by Bell Helicopter about deviation from procedure during field trials, the tender was cancelled. In the fresh tender issued in July 2008, two machines were shortlisted for flight evaluation, the single engine Eurocopter AS550 C3 Fennec and the twin engine Russian Kamov-226 Sergei. The process once again hit a roadblock when in response to complaint from one of the contenders who had been eliminated from the race earlier; Antony ordered an investigation for which a Special Technical Oversight Committee (STOC) under a Lieutenant General was constituted by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC). As bulk of the order was for the Army, it was logically declared as the ‘Lead Service’ and hence the STOC was headed by a senior officer from the Army’s Aviation Corps. Essentially, the complaints centred around deficiency of certain operational capabilities of one of the machines that were alleged to have been intentionally overlooked during flight trials.

In the meantime, there was a furore over the confidential letter to the Prime Minister written by General V.K. Singh, the then Chief of Army Staff (COAS) cataloguing the alarming state of operational preparedness of the Indian Army primarily on account of the debilitating deficiencies of equipment. Of particular relevance was the observation by the COAS on the shortage of helicopters in Army Aviation that serve as a lifeline to the troops deployed at high-altitude forward bases and the excruciatingly tardy pace of procurement of defence equipment. The state of preparedness of the Indian armed forces and the lack of urgency in the Ministry of Defence for timely acquisition of defence equipment was reiterated by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence in a report tabled in the Parliament in May this year thus endorsing concerns of General V.K. Singh.

Following the appearance of General V.K. Singh’s letter in the media, the Ministry of Defence appears to have been galvanised into action. As Chairman of the DAC, the Defence Minister has conducted a number of review meetings to assess the ongoing modernisation process and fast track critical acquisitions. The possibility of compressing the time frame in the future for technical and flight evaluation to bridge the ever widening gap between the authorised strength and availability of helicopters for Army Aviation appears to be high on the agenda. It is reported that cases of procurement of other stores valued at Rs. 20,000 crore (approx $4 billion) that had been pending for a long time, have been cleared by DAC on fast track.