The Nigerian Air Force’s impending acquisition of the JF-17 is a cautionary tale of the need for armed forces everywhere to assess their respective operational environment in a realistic manner and then devise an appropriate equipment procurement strategy.

“Weapons differentiate between Air Forces and Flying Clubs” is an often heard adage. Weapons capability is an integral part of an Air Power matrix. In the last three months, a number of successful indigenous weapons trials in India indicate a positive move in the right direction even if a little late in certain cases and after multiple failures in others. India’s dependence on foreign vendors for weapons and weapon platforms is well known and it is the largest importer of weaponry.

MoD can leapfrog many of the 11 stages in the procurement programme by taking the measures outlined to fulfil the urgent requirements of the Air Force.

The main threat to Mexico comes from illegal privately-operated aircraft which are heavily involved in smuggling. The inability of the Mexican Air Force to guarantee the integrity of its own airspace is therefore a matter of concern.

On 5 February 2017, a version of the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) was unveiled. The aptly-named “Advanced Hawk” is a joint-venture between BAE Systems and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). It has been developed using internal funds on an equal risk basis and offers significant enhancement of the capabilities of the basic Hawk AJT.

While the larger air forces are capable of sustaining their existing and future inventories for some time to come, the combat assets available to the region’s smaller air forces are facing a problem of pending obsolescence.

India can become a player of significance as its current MR/ LTA – the Dornier Do-228 – is admirably suited to meet the requirements of Caribbean Air Arms.

For Trinidad and Tobago, having two Air Arms has led to duplication of effort that has rendered existing assets less effective than they otherwise might have been. A faulty procurement process has also led to an incompatibility of both aircraft and avionics.

It is difficult to understand why the MoD should bind itself by asking for request for information (RFI) that cannot be compared across all the proposals. What would constitute ‘capability’ and ‘requisite infrastructure’ to license produce the aircraft is a matter of subjective interpretation and therefore, it would become difficult for MoD to assess whether the information provided by a bidder establishes that he/she has the requisite capability/infrastructure.