India will award an $11bn contract to acquire 126 medium multirole combat aircraft (MMRCA) for the Indian Air Force within a year.

Chief of air staff Air Chief Marshal P V Naik said the flight evaluation trials report, to be ready by the end of July 2010, will soon be placed before the Defence Ministry for clearance, according to PTI.

The IAF pilots that have test-flown the aircraft, which competed for the contract worth about Rs420bn ($8.8bn), has given very positive feedback, according to Naik.

Aircraft such as the F/A-18 Super Hornet and F-16 Falcon, Gripen, Rafale, MiG-35 and Eurofighter Typhoons are competing for the contract.