Know Your 'Rafale'

[WolfPack86]

JUST IN: 1st Rafale handed over to the Indian Air Force

 

[WolfPack86]

Indian Air Force 'accepts' Rafale, formal hand-over on Dussehra
A set of IAF pilots have already been trained in France for flying the aircraft

New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) received the first multi-role combat aircraft Rafale from its manufacturer Dassault Aviation in France on Thursday, defence sources said on Friday.

The jet will be formally handed over to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh for induction into the IAF when he visits France on the occasion of Dussehra on October 8.


The defence sources said the Rafale jet was accepted by a team of IAF officials at the aircraft's manufacturing facility in Bordeaux after completion of certain testing formalities.

Sources said the first jet was test-flown on Thursday by IAF's Deputy Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal V.R. Chaudhary who is also leading the team that is in France.

Officials said that on Thursday, India moved one step closer to acquiring the multi-role combat aircraft. However, the aircraft will physically arrive in India after installation of India-specific enhancements upon it. The first jet is expected to arrive in India only around May 2020.


The IAF has said that the occasion of Dussehra was chosen for receiving the first Rafale jet because it falls this year on October 8 which is also celebrated as Air Force Day.

India had signed an inter-governmental agreement with France and Dassault Aviation in September 2016 to purchase 36 Rafale jets in flyaway condition from the French manufacturer. The deal had been signed for approximately Rs 59,000 crore.

A set of IAF pilots have already been trained in France for flying the aircraft while more number of officers are expected to undergo training in different batches till the physical arrival of the aircraft in India.

The tail fins of the India-specific Rafale jets bear the initials RB-01 after the name of the Air Chief-designate Air Marshal R.K.S. Bhaduaria. He had played a crucial role in the negotiations with France before India finalised the deal for the 36 fighter jets.
https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/ind...-formal-hand-over-on-dussehra-1.1568993619634

 

[Jameson Emoni]

^

Happy Dusehara to IAF in advance!

 

[WolfPack86]

#BigNews First Rafale In IAF Hands, Decks Cleared For Follow-on Order For 36

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With the first Rafale ‘handed over’ to the Indian Air Force on September 19 in France, proceedings have officially begun towards the commissioning of four jets into Indian service on October 8 at Merignac with India’s defence minister Rajnath Singh in attendance. The first jets in Indian hands also clear decks for something bigger that’s remained in suspended animation for months through India’s stormy election season — a follow-on order for 36 more Rafales for a total of 72 aircraft. It remains unclear when the Narendra Modi government will pull the trigger on a second deal, though there are strong indications that the groundwork has been laid.

The first Indian Rafales will arrive in India in April-May next year and populate their inaugural squadron, 17 Squadron ‘Golden Arrows’ in Ambala, Haryana. A second squadron will come up in Hasimara in India’s east. Indian Rafale pilots being trained in France have received several operational briefings on current Rafale operations in Iraq and Syria. On a visit to the French Navy’s Landivisiau air base in 2017, Livefist also received an overview of the Rafale in combat operations.

In a surprise move being interpreted as support for the Rafale deal, the Modi Government this week named IAF vice chief Air Marshal Rakesh Bhadauria the next Chief of the Air Staff from the day he is slated to retire. As Deputy Chief, Bhadauria had led crucial negotiations with Dassault on the pricing and package that was finally signed. The IAF’s next man at the helm is, therefore, one who has witnessed every twist and turn of the deal from ringside and can, with the authority of his highest office, now see any follow-on deal for Rafales through. The ‘RB’ on the Indian Rafale tail numbers, incidentally, stand for ‘Rakesh Bhadauria’.

The first major indications that the Modi Government was prepared to power through with the Rafale deal despite an aggressive and unrelenting political controversy over the original 2016 deal came in March this year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking at the India Today Conclave, said the outcome of the post-Balakot air confrontation involving Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman would have been different if the IAF was using Rafales.

A second deal appeared afoot in March 2018 when the French government officially request the Indian MoD to reveal that the two countries were in discussions to conclude a deal for an additional 36 Rafale jets. All possibility of this quickly evaporated with the opposition Congress Party escalating its campaign against the 2016 Rafale deal and alleging corruption and cronyism. With the dust settling on the Rafale narrative following a massive election victory for the ruling Narendra Modi government — and the political potency of the Congress campaign proving a non-starter — the political legroom to revive intentions to add 36 Rafales to the order has increased. It is now known that that the Emmanuel Macron government in August officially refreshed its offer of 36 more Rafales to India on terms that take into account India’s ‘one-time’ investment component in the country-specific enhancements and infrastructure to support the aircraft in Ambala and Hasimara.

A national audit report on the Rafale deal is expected later this year, and could add to the harsh observations it had on the selection process — something that taints the Congress-led UPA government equally, if not more.

Beyond the IAF, the Rafale is also in contention for the Indian Navy’s carrier-borne fighter requirement for 57 aircraft. The Rafale prospectively goes up against Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet for this contest. The navy’s contest is unlikely to make forward movement before the end of next year.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/TeamAMCA/photos/?ref=page_internal

 

[WolfPack86]

First Rafale In Indian Air Force Hands, Decks Cleared For Discussions On Order For 36 More

 

[WolfPack86]

Rafale follow-on order for 36 more - “Strong indications that the groundwork has been laid.” ⁦
@livefist

 

[asianobserve]

It's quite amusing . This was the American dream with nuke deal and Indian alliance.
They wanted to integrate India into defense paradigm and wanted to manufacture small , medium weapons cheaply in India to be able to compete with china on scale .

But there high headness left a vacuum and now france is taking advantage of it.

It's funny you mentioned America, SMRAAM's most important component it's IR seeker is developed and produced by Raytheon (formerely Hughes). So at least with SRAAM you are assembling a partly US product.

 

[IndianHawk]

It's funny you mentioned America, SMRAAM's most important component it's IR seeker is developed and produced by Raytheon (formerely Hughes). So at least with SRAAM you are assembling a partly US product.

Who has the patent. If it's BAE then it's not American.

 

[maomao]

Rafale number is going up not just to fill in the gaps but to get Dasault and France on board to produce joint 5th Generation Fighter. France wants to produce 5th gen af, however require major funding and tech partner!

 

[BON PLAN]

Rafale number is going up not just to fill in the gaps but to get Dasault and France on board to produce joint 5th Generation Fighter. France wants to produce 5th gen af, however require major funding and tech partner!

If Germany remain on a hard position about SCAF 6th gen, there is a place to win for India.
But this kind of project needs a frim and strong commitment (and lean budgets) for 20 years. Is India able to do so ?

 

[BON PLAN]

https://www.livefistdefence.com/201...decks-cleared-for-follow-on-order-for-36.html

First Rafale In IAF Hands, Decks Cleared For Follow-on Order For 36

 

[BON PLAN]

https://www.outlookindia.com/newssc...-to-order-36-more-rafale-fighter-jets/1624418

Government likely to order 36 more Rafale fighter jets

 

[asianobserve]

Who has the patent. If it's BAE then it's not American.

The patent for the seeker will always be Raytheon's. It's a sensitive tech.

 

[WolfPack86]

#MoreRafale_2020
Government likely to order 36 more Rafale fighter jets by early 2020

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Shrugging off the controversy around the previous deal, the Narendra Modi government has finalized a deal for another 36 Rafale fighter jets, according to media reports.

An Indian Defence Research Wing report published on Saturday said the new order will be inked in early 2020.

The Indian Air Force has recently been handed over its first Rafale aircraft from France. The official handing over will take place on October 8 when Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be visiting France.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/TeamAMCA/photos/?ref=page_internal

 

[BON PLAN]

The patent for the seeker will always be Raytheon's. It's a sensitive tech.

It's the same than those of AIM9X if I remember well (which failed in Syria against a old Su...)

 

[Assassin 2.0]

UPDATE.

Rafale maker Dassault to set up unit in Uttar Pradesh's defence corridor



https://zeenews.india.com/india/raf...-uttar-pradeshs-defence-corridor-2236543.html

 

[Prashant12]

RB001 - the first Indian Rafale.

 

[Knowitall]

The above picture has the hammerhead. I thought we hadn't brought it.

 

[WolfPack86]

Rafale maker Dassault to set up unit in Uttar Pradesh's defence corridor
Besides Dassault, several other big companies of defence sector including General Dynamics, Rills Royce, Airbus, Saab, etc met the delegation of Uttar Pradesh government during the recently held Defence Expo in London.

Uttar Pradesh government has allowed French company Dassault Aviation to set up a unit in the state's upcoming defence corridor. It is to be noted that Dassault Aviation is the same firm which manufactures Rafale fighter jet. The company was recently in the news after Congress had raised over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to give the contract for Rafale jet to Dassault Aviation bypassing the government procedure.

Besides Dassault, several other big companies of defence sector including General Dynamics, Rills Royce, Airbus, Saab, etc met the delegation of Uttar Pradesh government during the recently held Defence Expo in London. Sources told Zee Media that the delegation of Uttar Pradesh met the representatives of 25 companies and during the meeting, all these companies have urged the state government to give them huge piece of land for the setting up of Testing Range.

Uttar Pradesh government officials said that it is likely that these companies would be given 25-30 acre of land at Babina in Jhansi. It is learnt that several defence companies have expressed their willingness to attend the Defence Expo which will be organised in Lucknow from February 5-7.
https://zeenews.india.com/india/raf...-uttar-pradeshs-defence-corridor-2236543.html

 

[WolfPack86]

BonPLAN is India going to manufacture Rafale fighter parts.