The Eurofighter consortium is set to win an $11.3bn deal to supply 126 Typhoon fighter jets to the Indian Air Force (IAF).

The Typhoon aircraft has topped the IAF’s technical assessment of bids, beating the US’s F16 and F18s, Russian MiG 35s and France’s Dassault Rafale.

The Typhoon is manufactured by a joint venture between the UK’s BAE Systems, Italy’s Alenia Aeronautica and the German-Spanish giant EADS.

If the Eurofighter jet wins the deal, India will become the consortium’s third-largest customer and an unofficial fifth partner in the project.

The Typhoon aircraft is an integrated platform for its weapons, radar and intelligence-gathering systems, according to Reuters.