India and France on Friday concluded an Inter-Governmental Agreement for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets at a cost of €7.87 billion, the first fighter aircraft deal since the purchase of Sukhois from Russian Federation in the late 90’s.
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Narendra Modi has announced the deal to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets directly from France in the month of April 2016, but it took 17 months to sign the deal.
Modi government had cleared the deal amid indications that the French government waived off the advance guarantee, allowing India to save 134 million euros.
Pointing out that the jets in India’s air force date back to the 1970s and 1980s, defense analyst Gulshan Luthra in New Delhi says “this gives them (the air force) a cutting edge technology, and although the number of aircraft is small, it will be their spearhead”.
Per Dassault’s timetable, the first Rafale fighter should arrive in India in 2019.
The fighter plane will be equipped with Meteor, a beyond-visual range air-to-air missile expected to considerably advance IAF’s capability in aerial combat.
This will mean that India can hit targets inside both Pakistan and across northern and eastern borders while staying within Indian territorial.
India has signed the deal of acquisition of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France on Friday.
The contracts for the deal were also signed earlier today.
Another weapon, the air-to-ground Scalp cruise missile with a 300-km range, will immensely boost India’s capability. During the Kargil war, India had used a BVR having 50 kilometre range. According to Dassault, it is capable of carrying out all combat missions: air defence, interception, ground support, in-depth strikes, reconnaissance, anti-ship strikes and nuclear deterrence.
Following on from the Mirage 2000, whose effective service with the Indian Air Force played a major role in establishing the reputation of Dassault aircraft, the Rafale was chosen by India in 2012 following a competitive bidding process initiated in 2007.
The Rafale deal comes as Modi attempts a $150 billion military modernization drive – buying everything from submarines to artillery. The armaments cost about 710 million Euros while Indian specific changes, including integration of Israeli helmet-mounted displays, will cost 1,700 million Euros.
Rafale is a French fourth-generation multirole twin-engine fighter aircraft, designed and built by France’s Dassault Aviation.
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The price – 7.75 billion euros – was reportedly bargained down from 10.6 billion.
