India, France ink Rs 60,000 crore Rafale deal

India and France on signed a Memorandum of Understanding over the purchase of 36 Rafale jets.

The Indian Air Force’s quest for a Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) is finally over with the Indian government confirming the order for 36 Rafale jets with the French government.

There were a lot of hiccups, over costs of the aircraft — over $100 million-plus per aircraft — and offsets from the Indian side and responsibility over the quality of production in India from the French side.

Finally, keeping in mind IAF’s urgent requirements, the prime minister intervened to order 36 aircraft, or two squadrons, in a direct government-to-government deal during his visit to Paris in April.

In brief:

• The Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition, also known as the MRCA tender, was a competition to supply 126 multi-role combat aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF).

• The Defence Ministry has allocated ₹55000 crore (US$8.1 billion) for the purchase of these aircraft.

• It was  India’s single largest defence deal.

• The contest featured six fighter aircraft: Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon, Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon, Mikoyan MiG-35, and Saab JAS 39 Gripen.

• After an intensive and detailed technical evaluation by the IAF, it reduced the bidders to two fighters — Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafale.

• On 31 January 2012 it was announced that Dassault Rafale won the competition due to its lower life-cycle cost.

• The deal has been reported to cost US$28–30 billion in 2014.

• On 13 April 2015, the defence minister Manohar Parrikar made an announcement that the M-MRCA tender is “effectively dead”.

• The programme was officially ended on 6 August 2015 when the request for proposals were withdrawn by the Indian government.

• Initially it was 18 Rafales that were to be built and sent to India in fly away conditions by France. But, on the joint press statement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s withPresident François Hollande, during his visit of France, the PM said that India will purchase 36 Rafales directly from France.

Dassault Rafale:

• The Dassault Rafale   is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation.

• Equipped with a wide range of weapons, the Rafale is intended to perform air supremacy, interdiction, aerial reconnaissance,ground support, in-depth strike, anti-ship strike and nuclear deterrence missions.

• The Rafale is referred to as an “omnirole” aircraft by Dassault.

• It has been selected for purchase by the Indian Air Force, the Egyptian Air Force, and the Qatar Air Force.

• The Rafale was brought in as the replacement for the Mirage 2000-5 that was originally a competitor for the tender.

• The Rafale has the advantage of being logistically and operationally similar to the Mirage 2000, which the IAF already operates and used with great success during the Kargil War in Operation Safed Sagar.

• The Rafale has an advantage over many of the competitors because it is not subject to ITAR(International Traffic in Arms Regulations) restrictions.((ITAR) control the export and import of defense-related articles and services on the United States Munitions List (USML))

• Concerns have been raised about cost issues as well as potential sales to Pakistan, which has also expressed interest in the Rafale. However, no such jets have been sold to Pakistan.

 Requirement of the Airforce :

• The IAF projected a requirement for about 126 aircraft in 2001, when the strength was at 39.5 squadrons (down from 45).

• The IAF  require replacements for its frontline strike aircraft like the MiG-27 and Jaguar, which would be retiring by 2015.

• India’s future 5th-generation aircraft, the Russo-Indian Sukhoi/HAL FGFA and the indigenous Medium Combat Aircraft will not be ready before 2025, and 2022,  respectively, thus providing the need for a replacement.

• This has led to a renaming of the competition as the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) tender.

• The Indian government is to buy the first 18 aircraft directly from the manufacturer. The remaining fighters will be built under licence with a transfer of technology (ToT) by HAL.