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The Rafale fighter is a twin-engine Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) manufactured by French aerospace company Dassault Aviation. (Reuters file photo)
A group of unidentified individuals tried to break into the facility of the Indian Rafale project management team in France.
The attempted break-in happened at the facility of the Indian Air Force's Rafale Project Management Team in a suburb of Paris on Sunday night.
"There was a break-in into the Indian Air Force Rafale project management team office which is located in a suburb of Paris in France. No hard disk or document has been stolen. More details are being ascertained about the motive," sources in the Indian Air Force told news agency ANI.
The Indian team in France is headed by a Group Captain rank officer to oversee the production of 36 Rafale aircraft by French manufacturer Dassault Aviation as well as the training of Indian personnel there.
The Rafale project team looks after issues related to the 36 Rafale combat aircraft, including the production timelines and training of Indian personnel who have to be trained for maintenance and flying operations of the plane, which India is acquiring.
The Rafale team sits in a building complex in Saint Cloud suburb of Paris and the police there is investigating the case.
Sources said the main aim of the break-in could have been to steal data as valuables or money are not kept in these administrative offices.
The Indian Rafale team office is in the vicinity of French Dassault Aviation office blocks.
The Defence ministry has been apprised of the break-in by the Air Force and French police authorities are probing the case.
India signed an agreement with France for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft in a fly-away condition as part of the upgrading process of Indian Air Force equipment. The deal is estimated to be about Rs 58,000 crore (about USD 8 billion).
The Rafale fighter is a twin-engine Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) manufactured by French aerospace company Dassault Aviation.
The incident has come after the long election season in India where allegations of corruption in the Rafale procurement were levelled by Congress President Rahul Gandhi.
The Rafale has been critical to IAF plans for securing the country against the aerial and other threats from enemy countries.
After the February 27 incident involving an aerial battle between India and Pakistan, IAF Chief BS Dhanoa had suggested that the Pakistanis would not have dared to come close to the LoC in a conflict situation if the country had Rafale planes in its inventory.
(With inputs from ANI)
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https://www.indiatoday.in/india/sto...lity-break-in-paris-france-1531858-2019-05-22
