All You Need To Know About The Rafale Fighter Jet Deal

Rafale Fighter Super Jets Rafale Deal

The much-awaited Rafale deal which India is going to sign with France on Friday in New Delhi, might not be good enough for China, says experts. Through this deal, India will get to use 36 cutting edge Rafale Jets from France’s Dassault instead of Russian MiG-21s – known as “Flying Coffins” because of their poor safety record. India may have spent billions of dollars on hi-tech French fighter jets, but experts say it needs to do a lot more if it is going to match the increasingly assertive China.

According to the sources, the French had made an opening offer of Euro 12 billion in May last year when the negotiations began. Even after the offer came down to Euro 8.6 billion in January, India still resisted until it was May this year that the two sides finally agreed at a price of Euro 7.878 billion.

The deal will be inked on Friday in the presence of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his French counterpart Jean Yves Le Drian. The Rafale deal was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Paris in April last year. The debate regarding this aircraft was first raised by the IAF nearly 16 years ago.

These French fighter jets will have 14 India-specific enhancements and a modern air-to-air missile that restores its edge in aerial combat over Pakistan, along with performance-based logistics and associated supplies. In addition to the 36 French fighters, IAF will also get a 150-km range Meteor missile in the weapons package, and free training for nine personnel, including three pilots, with an estimated worth of Euro 100 million.

rafale fighter jets Rafale Deal

Meteor missile is a Beyond Visual Range missile and provides a no-escape zone three times greater than that of a conventionally powered missile in a head-on engagement. According to the experts, the Meteor is five times more lethal than its conventional equivalent missiles, and can hit farther than the missile that Pakistan air force currently has in its arsenal. The Rafales jets will also be fitted with MICA missiles, an Air-to-Land precision missile of more than 300 km range.

As these come with a performance-based logistics support, it means that 75 per cent of the fleet will be airworthy at any given time. Earlier, the airworthiness of IAF’s fighter fleet Sukhoi Su30 was just 50 per cent.

A guarantee for an additional 60 hours for the trainer version of Rafale fighters Jets will be given, and a concession to keep the weapons storage in France for six months without any charge. The French have also agreed to supply spares for a period of seven years at initial cost; provided a new deal will be negotiated within the next five years. The standard European escalation cost has also been brought down from 4% to 3.5%.

According to the air force, they would require at least 42 squadrons to protect its northern and western borders with Pakistan and China as opposed to the current 32 squadrons, which is comprised of 18 aircrafts each. Air force representatives even warned the parliament last year that the number of squadrons could fall to 25 by 2022; equivalent to Pakistan.

But the real concern is China, an ally of Pakistan whose military capacities are much higher than that of India’s. “Pakistan we can handle. Pakistan we can muscle our way, but China, no way we can handle,” said defence analyst Gulshan Luthra. “And if China comes to the aid of Pakistan, then we’re stuck.”

The Rafale deal also agreed to supply another two squadrons, although it will be three years before the delivery of the jets begins. Currently being used in Syria and Iraq for bombing missions, the Rafale can fly distances upto 3,800 kilometres.

PM Modi wanted to end India’s status as the world’s number one defence importer and to have 70 percent of hardware manufactured domestically by the end of 2020.

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