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 report says that the IAF had made multiple attempts to acquire the A330 MRTT before having to shelve its plans due to budgetary constraints. The IAF has also been looking at the Boeing 767 based KC-46A Pegasus as an alternative.

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.