MoD likely to approve next tranche of 36 Rafales for the IAF very soon
The next lot of IAF's Rafales will be clubbed with the Navy’s requirement for 57 naval fighters, which meets the minimum criteria of 90 fighters for setting up a manufacturing line in India economically .
Once the assembly line is set up in India, it would open the doors for a larger order of Rafales for both IAF and Navy.
The first deal for 36, which included the cost of the aircraft, IAF-specific modifications, Weapons and Missiles, Operations and Maintenance infrastructure at two places in India’s East and West, and 50 per cent Offsets as investment in India, was pegged at about Euro 7.87 billion (or US$ 8.8 billion).
In the acquisition of another 36 aircraft, or two squadrons of 18 each, the costs should be lower by about Euro 2.5 billion plus as the expenses for India-specific modifications and infrastructure at two places have already been recovered. Notably, preliminary work in this regard at Ambala in Haryana and Hashimara in West Bengal has begun.
Both these deals are G-to-G or Government to Government, to avoid any unnecessary allegations, which have invariably been a curse for the armed forces in their modernization process over the last about 25 years.
The Offsets clause would translate into construction of a modern defence industrial base as well as some ToT by the Rafale partners, that is, Dassault which builds and integrates the aircraft, Safran which provides the engines and some other onboard systems, Thales which provides the highly advanced EW systems and MBDA, which is supplying the most modern Meteor Air to Air and other missiles.
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