04 - India to Acquire Multi-role Combat Aircraft

India plans to acquire 126 multi-role combat aircraft. The contenders for this multi-billion dollar contract are the Russian MiG-35, the U.S F-16 and F-18, the Eurofighter, the French Rafale and possibly the Saab Gripen. The French initially offered the Mirage 2000-5, but later replaced it with the Rafale, as they plan to phase-out the Mirage aircraft family.

Of these aircraft, the mig stands least chance of bagging the contract, although it has great flying ability it is basically a technology demonstrator and its capability as a fighter is suspect.
The Rafale is prohibitively expensive.
The F-16 would be comparable to the LCA under development.
For the F-18, IAF wants to get the Active Electronically Scanning Array (AESA) radar as it can detect an adversary 460km away in air & on the ground and can engage at a distance of 220km. Barring U.S, no other country has such a radar on board their aircraft.
The Gripen is considered the most advanced fighter in the world if we discount the F-22 Raptor. It is highly capable and it can even take off and land on normal roads and runways as short as 800m.
If I had to rank this list it would be (1.) Rafale or Gripen (2.) F-18 or Eurofighter

A comparitive table of these aircraft has also been prepared, but tables can't be displayed on the blog so if you want the comparison leave your email address in your comments and I will mail you the table.