French defence minister to visit India, push Rafale deal

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French defence minister to visit India, push Rafale deal

NEW DELHI: French defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will arrive here tomorrow to hold talks with his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar in what is seen as a fresh attempt to firm up the faltering multi-billion dollar Rafale deal.

Defence sources said that Drian will be in India as part of an official visit to a few other countries including UAE.

He will hold a fresh round of talks with Parrikar just two months after they met and decided to "fast-track" the contract negotiations for the nearly $10-billion deal for Rafale fighter jets.

Sources said the French minister will focus on firming up the deal ahead of an expected visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to France a couple of months from now.

Parrikar had recently said that he would not comment on the Rafale deal as the Contract Negotiations Committee was discussing it.

READ ALSO: Hoping to ink deal with IAF soon, Rafale displays aircraft at Aero India 2015

However, he has asked the CNC to fasten the process. The Indian Air Force Chief has stressed on the need to have a Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft, for which Rafale was shortlisted.

Rafale display on concluding day of the 10th International Aero Show at Yelahanka Air Force Station in Bengaluru on Sunday. (TOI photo: Chethan Shivakumar)

READ ALSO: French officials to visit India to rescue stalled Rafale jet deal

Confident of signing the much delayed contract with India "soon", French Defence major Dassault had last week said its pricing remains the same from day one and it has not wavered from the request for proposal (RPF).

READ ALSO: Original terms have to be met in Rafale jet deal, says Parrikar

It had also said an empowered team has already arrived in India and carried forward the talks as decided by the defence ministers of the two countries in December.
French defence minister to visit India, push Rafale deal - The Times of India

 

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By:economictimes.indiatimes.com
Most hitches in Rafale deal addressed: MoS Defence Rao Inderjit Singh

NEW DELHI: Most of the hitches in the multi- billion Euro deal for 36 Rafale fighter planes have been addressed and the remaining ones will be cleared in the next meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh said today.

The meeting of DAC, the apex body of the Defence Ministry for procurement, is likely to take place on April 21, a day after Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar arrives here from his visit to China.

Hoping that the Rafale deal would be inked soon, Indian Air Force Chief Arup Raha said, "It is at a very advanced stage."

Singh told reporters here, "I can only tell you this that most of the hitches that were there, have been addressed. A few (remaining) issues will be addressed, when possibly the matter comes up before DAC. They shall be addressed in the next DAC. And thereafter I think the road shall be clear."

He was asked as to when the deal is likely to be signed.
When the same question was put to Air Chief Marshal Raha on the sidelines of an IAF seminar, he said, "We have seen so many years go past. How can I give an assurance? But it is in a very advanced stage."

The junior defence minister brushed aside a suggestion that at least six indigenously made Light Combat Aircraft Tejas can be bought for the price of one Rafale plane, saying both the aircraft were totally different in nature and that IAF needed both.

India and France could firm up the order for the purchase of 36 Rafale combat planes as both the countries have managed to narrow down their differences over pricing.

The development comes nearly four months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande signed a memorandum of agreement to purchase 36 Rafale aircraft.

The Indian side has been negotiating hard to bring down the price with Parrikar refusing to buckle under pressure even as questions were raised about the the delay in signing of the contract.

Sources said the price for 36 Rafales, as per the UPA government's tender, keeping the cost escalation and dollar rate in mind, comes to a little over Rs 65,000 crore.

This includes the cost involved in making changes India has sought in the aircraft, including Israeli helmet-mounted display and some specific weaponry.

"The effort is to bring down the price to less than Euros 8 billion (Rs 59,000 crore)," the sources said.


The final deal may be clinched by May-end..................See more

 

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Mr Holland gonna be very happy...............

By:www.defensenews.com
India and France to Finalize $8.9 Billion Deal for 36 Rafales

NEW DELHI — After three dozen rounds of negotiations since April 2015, India will finally sign an €7.8 billion (US $8.9 billion) contract next month with France to purchase 36 Dassault Rafale fighter aircraft.

"We are in advanced stages of negotiations and the contract will be inked soon," said a source in the Indian Ministry of Defense (MoD).

Dassault declined comment but Dassault chairman Eric Trappier said April 13 on Radio Classique he expected a contract could be signed “in the next few days," adding “I have high hopes this contract could be signed fairly quickly.”

"Weaponry and other modifications have been finalized based on the earlier Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft [MMRCA] tender," the MoD source said. The French will also sign a 10-year agreement for maintenance of the aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

"We have agreed to execute 50 percent offsets in the Rafale deal but we have not compromised on the cost," a source in the French Embassy in New Delhi said.

Refusing to give details, the French Embassy source said, "Thirty percent offsets will be embarked for future military aviation research and development (R&D) programs and the remaining 20 percent will be with Indian [defense] industries making components for Rafale."

To execute the offsets, several French companies including Safran and Thales will join Dassault in providing state-of-the-art technologies in stealth, radar, thrust vectoring for missiles, and materials for electronics and micro-electronics, the French Embassy source said.

Meanwhile, the "state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has almost finalized the future defense R&D projects in which French defense companies will participate as technology partners," the MoD source added but refused to give details on the R&D projects.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced in his April 2015 visit to Paris the intention to buy 36 Rafales on a government-to-government (G2G) basis. However, finalizing the cost, and agreement on the size of offsets had become the major hurdles in the yearlong negotiations.

India had put forth the list of weaponry during the negotiations which the IAF wants and includes Mica air-to-air missile, Scalp cruise missile and Meteor beyond-visual-range missile and precision-guided munitions. An IAF source said India-specific Rafale aircraft will be able to carry 10 tons of weaponry.

Out of the 36 aircraft,18 will be deployed at Ambala air base bordering Pakistan and another 18 will be deployed at an air base in the eastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, bordering China.

The first Rafale is expected to be delivered within 20 months of signing the G2G agreement.

The Rafale order is driven by a sense of urgency as the Indian air force has operational needs which cannot be met with by the Russian fighters they fly today, said Robbin Laird of ICSA, a consulting firm based in Washington and Paris.

There are effectively two separate forces, one flying Russian fighters, the other the Mirage 2000, when the service needs to have a more integrated air force, Laird said.

An acquisition of the French fighter could also strengthen the Indian Air Force's ties with the French Air Force, which has flown combat operations in Iraq and Syria.

“French pilots are highly capable and have a professional inventiveness that tap into their experience,” Laird said. “I would not underestimate French pilots. If India fails to get the Rafale into operation in three years, that would be a strategic failure.”

"The IAF has assessed the need for Rafale-type fighters 10 years ago which is a calculated operational requirement based on government approved norms and enough to equip six squadrons (with about 15 percent assets as maintenance and war reserves)," said Subhash Bhojwani, retired IAF air marshal.

"There is a long-term requirement of about 10 squadrons of Rafale aircraft (say 200 aircraft, including missile warning radar)," Bhojwani added.

"Currently IAF has a significant shortage of combat aircraft. The numbers are well below the authorized level and continue to dwindle as older machines retire. Considering the low rate of induction, IAF may take more than a decade or two to reach its authorized strength," Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy, retired IAF air chief marshal and former IAF chief had told Defense News earlier.

IAF's fighter aircraft strengthis down to 25 squadrons (one squadron is equal to 18 aircraft) as against the required strength of 45 squadrons.

Out of the 25 squadrons, 14 squadrons are equipped with Russian made MiG-21 and MiG-27 fighters that are on the verge of retirement.................See more