“Besides having absolutely cutting edge technology, it comes with beyond visual range missiles, which are also better than what both China and Pakistan possess”.
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As the French Defence Minister Jean Yves Le Drian is slated to land in New Delhi on September 22, the contract could be inked on September 23 if the last round of talks between the two sides progress well.
The deal involves the manufacturer outsourcing 50 per cent of the total amount of the deal from India.
India, the world’s biggest arms importer, had meant to buy 126 Rafale planes before several years worth of talks with Dassault broke down and Modi and Hollande stepped in last year to agree on the smaller purchase.
A senior defence ministry official said Prime Minister Narendra Modi´s cabinet committee on security had given its green light to the multi-billion dollar Rafale jet purchase at a meeting in New Delhi and that the defence ministers of both France and India would ink the agreement on Friday. Sources said the cost of just the 36 aircraft works out to be 3.42 billion Euros while the armaments cost about 710 million Euros. The remaining cost includes the price of spare parts and maintenance etc.
According to defence sources, the deal for the aircraft, besides a 50 per cent offset clause, will save almost 750 million euros than what was being quoted by the French side in January 2016.
French President Francois Hollande’s office confirmed that Le Drian would visit India at the end of the week. India then asked France to make the deal cost calculations on the basis of actual cost, or “Price as on today”, plus European Inflation Indices. However, there is no official word on the deal as well as on the negotiated price. At the time, India was the only foreign buyer for the jet.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has driven a hard bargain with France, resulting in reported savings of around 750 million Euros from what France had quoted in January this year.
This deal would mark an end to a decade-long hunt for new planes to keep pace with Pakistan and China and to replace an ageing fleet of fighter jets.
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Three other concessions include free training for nine IAF personnel, including three pilots besides additional guarantee for 60 hours of usage of training aircraft for Indian pilots and six months of free weapons storage without charge (in case the Indian infrastructure is not ready for storing the weapons).
