Update on Rafale Deal on Indian Media - Same as usual - No change - But one small but significant information
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Talks to acquire French Rafale fighter jets not yet over
NAYANIMA BASU
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1:
Negotiations to acquire 36 Rafale fighter jets from France for the Indian Air Force have still not been concluded even as a High Committee on Defence Cooperation (HCDC) is looking into the matter.
“A memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Indian and French Government has also been signed on January 25, 2016, in this regard. Negotiations with the French side are currently on,” Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told the Rajya Sabha Tuesday.
The MoU, which was signed during the visit of French President François Nicolas Hollande, was finalised when Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his trip to France in 2015.
Since then the talks have been mainly stuck on the issue of pricing as India had demanded certain changes in the design.
A High Committee on Defence Cooperation (HCDC) last discussed the Rafale deal when it met in Paris on January 12.
According to Parrikar, the committee had also discussed the purchase of these multirole combat aircraft manufactured by Dassault Aviation, a French defence giant, in fly-away condition.
Apart from this, the committee had also discussed the MoU signed between both governments on Defence equipment supplies.
(This article was published on March 1, 2016)
Talks to acquire French Rafale fighter jets not yet over | Business Line
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Comment
I am wondering what changes in the design implies? If what i understand is correct , design changes was so far assumed for M88-9 engine of 9 Tonnes of thrust for UAE. Bcz that requires a bigger air intake same like M88-3 program.
So is this the official confirmation in our media that India has in fact planned for 9 Tonnes engine over 8.3-8.5 Tonnes one?
If true then this goes in line with what PSK said here and what i had said in comments
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and as
@Picdelamirand-oil also quoted
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The question to now wonder is
1. If IAF plans for an increased thrust with redesign in air intake for a M88-9 -9T variant then of course there is a 2 prong approach here
- The cost part would increase much more than 8.3-8.5 T program of Safran and re design is costlier
- Perhaps thats why Dassault may have a discussion going on for this particular customization as a tri party talks between Dassault/French side with UAE and India to share the cost
- UAE deal may happen first followed by Indian deal to share the cost part.
2. It is beyond doubt in my mind that such big customization will imply India wont stop at just 36 and will of course look at making more Rafales as effectively this is a very customised Indian version and will be something like Rafale - F3 Inde or F3I or analogous to the term MKI
3. Its also making much sense now why the cost part was quoted much higher if reports in media about Euro 10-11.5 Bn are to be believed or closer to Rs 85-90K. Simply being if we look at air intake re design, checking and rechecking all parameters of present Rafale in terms of say Drag, Stealth, and all associated flying tech re calibration etc coupled with Spectra+weapon loads retests (as pointed by Pic), there is going to be an upswing in costs.. and its going to be much higher than presumed 8.3-8.5 T engine alone. And also the time factor will increase.
4. Most importantly, DM MP or MOD or CNC does not have much leverage now of reducing all costs associated with the massive customization as somewhere India has to agree or at least look at a ball park figure closer to Dassault figure which they are requesting as the work is pretty big in terms of time and monetary needs. India cannot quote Euro 7Bn and expects all things would get included here as it would be too much for asking such a customization.
5. In another equal probability, if deadline continues, harping costs angle, DM MP will let Rafale deal wither.. Unfortunately, its a shame that gullible masses will never come to know India had asked for a very top of the line customization and is expecting it in a price which is technically not feasible.
Its getting a bit interesting now...
@Abingdonboy @Vauban @Taygibay @Picdelamirand-oil @anant_s @cerberus @knight11 @AUSTERLITZ @MilSpec @halloweene
