MRFA : IAF is considering both 4.5th and 5th Gen aircraft

Source : Indian Defence Updates (IDU)

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While speaking to the media, the Indian Air Force Chief has said that the search for 4.5th Generation or 5th Generation fighter jets under the 114 MRFA Tender is still ongoing and the Air Force is going through proposals that it has received.

This is for the first time that the Air Force Chief has confirmed that the Indian Air Force is open to the idea of a 5th Generation platform under the MRFA.

The Indian Air Force has received proposals from prospective manufacturers about their 4.5th Generation fighter jets while Russia has offered its Sukhoi Su-75 Checkmate to the Indian Air Force but it is unlikely that the Air Force will be interested in its procurement of the fighter, as the existence of the Su-75 project is becoming increasingly impossible as UAE has paused funding the project.

The only other Russian 5th Generation fighter jet in production is the Sukhoi Su-57 and India had already ditched The Joint development program in 2018 but Russia has repeated the offer of Su-57 to India several times since the 2018 withdrawal.

The American F-35A has never been offered to India but recently both the Japanese Think Tank and a British Defense Publication had claimed that India is silently negotiating with the American Government for the purchase of heavily modified F-35 fighter jets with India's specific modifications, although IAF denied the report later.