After IAF, Navy Now Wants Amphibian Aircraft

In March last year, when the Indian Air Force said it wanted six amphibious aircraft for “search and rescue missions, inter-island communication, rapid response duties and reconnaissance of islands” (see RFI here), the Indian Navy wasn’t amused, seeing as it was already involved with defining such a requirement for its own air arm. A year on, the navy today said it wanted its own fleet of amphibious aircraft. It is not yet clear if this is the same procurement effort transferred to the navy or a new one entirely (implying two separate competitions for two separate fleets). More details soon.

Photo: Beriev

7 thoughts on “After IAF, Navy Now Wants Amphibian Aircraft”

  1. Russia, Japan, Canada are the only manufacturers of military amphibians. Japan has been succesfuly using its US1 but Japanese laws prevent export though that has not prevented China from copying that design. I always used to wonder why amphibians died such a gradual death while once they ruled the world. Now with sea lanes under scrutiny/ attack ,probably the second coming of the amphibians is on the horizon worldwide – especially for countries that cant afford huge aircraft carriers.

  2. Probably, we should have unified air lift command like US so that the aircrafts are properly used instead of each service having its own aircrafts…

  3. @10:47

    Chinese SH-5 amphibians are not copies. They are however obsolete even by Chinese standards and were retired a few years ago.

    I don't believe they have any amphibians in service at this moment.

  4. There are two separate requirements for amphibians. The IAF requirement has more to do with over-water combat SAR, while the Navy's requirement concerns both maritime surveillance, special operations and combat SAR. The latest RFI is issued by IAF HQ (clearly mentioned in the document). Therefore, there are two separate competitions for two separate fleets. This was decided in mid-2010 by HQ IDS.

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