Mega Rs 64,000 crore deal for 26 Rafale-Marine jets cleared by authorities | India Information

NEW DELHI: Amid China’s ever-expanding naval forays into the Indian Ocean Area, the PM-led cupboard committee on safety has cleared the mega Rs 63,887 crore (Euro 6.6 billion) cope with France for the direct acquisition of 26 Rafale-Marine fighter jets, which can primarily function from the deck of indigenous plane service INS Vikrant.
The government-to-govt contract for the 22 single-seat Rafale-M jets and 4 twin-seat trainers, which incorporates some weapons, simulators, crew coaching and five-year performance-based logistics assist, can be inked “inside this month”, officers informed TOI.
French defence minister Sébastien Lecornu is prone to attend the signing of the inter-governmental settlement (IGA) and contract, which additionally consists of some spares and gear for the 36 Rafales already inducted by the IAF beneath the Rs 59,000 crore contract inked in Sept 2016. IAF has deployed 18 Rafales every at Ambala and Hasimara to cater for Pakistan and China.
The 2 main Rafale offers, neither of which contain switch of expertise, will routinely make the French fighter the frontrunner within the long-pending challenge to fabricate 114 multi-role fighter plane (MRFA) with overseas collaboration in India, which was initially estimated to value Rs 1.25 lakh crore and is now being fast-tracked, as reported by TOI earlier.
The 26 Rafale-M fighters, designed for maritime strike, air defence and reconnaissance missions, can be delivered in 37 to 65 months after inking of the contract, which can contain India paying an preliminary 15% instalment of the full value of the deal. “The brand new IGA mirrors the one inked within the IAF deal. All of the 26 jets are to be delivered by 2031,” an official mentioned.

The omni-role 4.5-generation Rafales, by the way, are additionally able to delivering nuclear weapons. Along with the 70-km vary Exocet AM39 anti-ship missiles, the Rafale-M jets can be armed with long-range precision strike weapons just like the IAF variant. They embody the over 300-km vary `Scalp’ air-to-ground cruise missiles and the top-notch Meteor air-to-air missiles, which have a strike vary of 120 to 150-km to tackle enemy jets.

The Rafale-M deal additionally features a dedication from France to assist combine Indian missiles just like the naval quick and medium-range anti-ship missiles (NASMs) and BrahMos-NG, being developed by DRDO, with the Rafale-M fighters sooner or later.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had undertaken a strident marketing campaign within the run-up to the 2019 normal elections in opposition to the sooner 36-Rafale contract, however the authorities dismissed all allegations of corruption and the problem discovered little resonance within the polls.
Now, the government goes forward with the procurement of one other 26 jets manufactured by Dassault Aviation, with Thales being the weapon programs integrator.
The Rafale-M had emerged because the frontrunner over the American F/A-18 Tremendous Hornet after intensive trials performed by the Navy in 2022. The French fighter, in any case, had a head begin on logistical, commonality of spares and upkeep after the IAF inducted its 36 Rafales.
The Navy at present has solely 40 of the 45 MiG-29K jets, inducted from Russia at a value of $2 billion from 2009 onwards, to function from the decks of its two over 40,000-tonne plane carriers, the older Russian-origin INS Vikramaditya and the brand new indigenous INS Vikrant. Furthermore, the MiG-29Ks have additionally been dogged by poor serviceability and different issues over time.
With the indigenous twin-engine deck-based fighter (TEDBF) prone to take at the least a decade to grow to be operational, the Navy had pushed for the 26 Rafale-M jets as an interim measure.
One other mega cope with France, the Rs 33,500 crore one for the three further diesel-electric Scorpene submarines to be constructed by Mazagon Docks (MDL) in collaboration with the French M/s Naval Group, can be now being finalised.
As for plane carriers with their integral fighters and different weapons, India has no possibility however to deploy them within the IOR and past within the backdrop of the area more and more getting militarised.
China already has three plane carriers, the 60,000-tonne Liaoning, the 66,000-tonne Shandong and the over 80,000-tonne Fujian, and is quick constructing extra such warships with nuclear-propulsion.
The Indian authorities, nonetheless, is but to even give the preliminary nod for the long-pending case for a 3rd 45,000-tonne plane service, not to mention a stronger 65,000-tonne one, which can take at the least a decade to construct.