The Indian Air Force has alerted global missile manufacturers that it wishes to procure air-to-air close-combat missiles with helmet-mounted displays (HMDs) for its Jaguar ground-attack aircraft.
The air force hopes to purchase 384 fire-and-forget missiles, 130 HMDs and 226 launchers in the current bid.
It wants the missiles to have a range of over 10km, a maximum speed of Mach 4 and the ability to scan the target area for hostile aircraft and then lock on after launch.
Additionally, the missiles should be capable of firing backwards, employ thrust vector technology and possess an
infrared imaging system.
According to reports from Defense News, tenders for the $100m contract have been sent to MBDA of France, Rafael of Israel, Diehl Defence of Germany, Raytheon of the US and Rosoboronexport of Russia.
India is presently incorporating stealth technology, Magic-2 and R-77 missiles into its aircraft to enhance combat capability and equal the Russian Su-30MKI multi-role aircraft.
The air force also hopes to acquire precision-guided bombs and anti-ship missiles for the Jaguars.
