India has awarded a contract to US defence manufacturer Raytheon to integrate the Munitions Control Unit on the Jaguar fighters, to enable the aircraft to fire even the latest US-made missiles.
"The MCU is a system that enables integration of modern weapons on legacy aircraft such as the Jaguar with minimal modifications to aircraft wiring attached to the weapons without any changes on other systems," Raytheon Vice President for Missiles Systems Harry Schlute told PTI.
He added that after the integration of the MCU on the fleet of over 100 Jaguar aircraft in the IAF, pilots would be able to fire American-origin missiles such as the Paveway precision-guided missiles, AIM-9M Sidewinders and Mavericks.
Majority of the IAF missiles are of the Russian and the French origin. Schlute said that Raytheon had started the integration of the MCU on Jaguars in the second quarter of this year and plans to finish the work in less than 24 months. India has recently released a global tender for acquiring over 100 close combat range missiles for the Jaguars and Raytheon is one of the contenders in the contract.
The IAF is planning to carry out modifications and add more capabilities in the aircraft, which was inducted by India in the early 80s.
The Indian Air Force also plans to acquire combat air-to-air missiles for the Jaguar series aircraft it uses. The Request for Proposal for the acquisition of these close combat missiles has been sent to five manufacturers including the Raytheon Corporation, Israeli Raphael and European missile maker MBDA.
Raytheon has confirmed receiving a request and said that they could offer their AIM-9X and AMRAAM missiles to fulfill the order.
The IAF also plans to replace the engines on the Jaguars and have contacted Honeywell and Rolls Royce for the requirement.
