Paris to the hilt | idrw.org
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Paris to the hilt[/size]
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SOURCE: TELEGRAPH INDIA
The French kiss is running deep for Indias
defence establishment this season.Tuesdays
decision to select the Dassault Aviation-made
Rafale fighter jet over the Eurofighter Typhoon as
the aircraft that will power the Indian Air Force for
the next 40 years is easily the biggest prize that
France has won on any military order.
Some 800 French companies operate in India but
only a select few in the defence sector. Areva in
the nuclear power sector and Airbus (European
conglomerate) in civil aviation have expanded
their businesses, too.
But in the lucrative defence business, France is still
behind Russia and Israel as a supplier to India.
The award of the Rafale contract, possibly in
April, will expand its lead hugely over the US, the
UK and Western European countries. The Indian
military has been steadily diversifying its arsenal
this past decade even though nearly 70 per cent
of the hardware is of Russian/Soviet origin.
It would be sweeter still for France because India
has selected the Rafale after it was rejected by a
clutch of countries that were or are looking to
refurbish their air forces. Among them are
Switzerland, the UAE, Brazil and South Korea.
Also, even all of these countries put together
were not looking to buy as many as 126 and
possibly another 63 more of the aircraft.
Frances year for Indias defence began with the
announcement in the first week of January that
MBDA was being awarded a contract for 490
Mica infrared and radar-controlled air-to-air
missiles. The package will cost the defence
budget $1.2 billion (about Rs 6,600 crore).
The award of the weapons package follows the
order to upgrade the Indian Air Forces 51 Mirage
2000H fighter jets. France was given the contract
in July last after years of negotiations that almost
frustrated it. The Mica missiles from MBDA will
equip these refurbished fighter jets.
MBDA is also in the race to sell Asraam missiles to
arm the Indian Air Forces 100 Jaguar fighter-
bomber aircraft. MBDA heavy-duty weapons
used in Libya and Afghanistan, like bunker
busting and deep penetration ground attack
missiles, will arm the Rafale, too.
The Mirage modernisation order to French
companies Dassault and Thales will cost about
$2.4 billion (about Rs 11,000 crore). The total
upgrade order, with the weapons package, will
top Rs 17,500 crore.
French companies are preparing to race for an
order for a second line of submarines for the
Indian Navy that could be in the region of Rs
62,000 crore. Frances DCNS got the contract in
2005 to build six Scorpene submarines. The
delivery of the submarines, being built in
Cherbourg in France and also at Mazagon Docks
in Mumbai is delayed because work languished
over pricing issues in 2008.
The first of the submarines is now expected only
in 2015. The contract was signed initially for $3
billion after a meeting between Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and President Jacques Chirac in
September 2005. The price was revised to $4.5
billion after the contract was re-negotiated amid
allegations from German rival HDW of a scandal.
Cutting across the various defence contracts that
France is executing is French company Thales.
Thales is a partner for the Mirage upgrade, the
submarine development and will partner Dassault
for the Rafale. It supplies night-vision devices to
the Indian Army for its tanks.
French engine-maker Snecma powers the Mirage
2000 fighter aircraft and two Snecma M88
engines will go into each Rafale.
French company Safran has won a contract for
an unspecified amount from Hindustan
Aeronautics to supply Turbomeca Ardiden 1H
helicopters for the Dhruv-II advanced light
helicopter. Each helicopter has two engines and
the Dhruv is steadily becoming one of the main
rotorcraft for the army, the air force and the navy
as also for central police organisations. The
Turbomeca engines are made by Safran.
