Indian Air Force's 14 Year Long Futile Attempts To Acquire A New Generation Refuelling Aircraft

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has been unsuccessfully trying to acquire a new generation flight refuelling aircraft for the past 14 years, with the spotlight again falling on this elusive acquisition yesterday (28 July).

As per a report in Livefist, the matter came to the forefront when India's five brand new Rafale fighter jets underwent mid-air refuelling over the Mediterranean Sea with the help of the French Air Force Airbus A330 Multirole Tanker Transports (MRTT) aircraft.

The IAF had last floated a request for information (RFI) in 2018 as part of its third attempt to acquire six such tankers but the efforts are yet to move forward. The IAF has as a result also been mulling the option of leasing the aircraft if the option to buy remains unviable.

IAF currently has a small fleet of Russian Il-78M FRAs at its disposal for its aerial refuelling needs.