The government has turned down the military’s request to expand the acquisition of 36 fighter planes from Dassault Aviation SA to plug vital gaps, officials said, nudging it to accept an indigenous combat plane 32 years in the making. The air force wanted the government to clear an additional 44 Rafale medium multi-role aircraft on top of the 36 that Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced during a visit to Paris this year that are to be bought off-the-shelf to meet its urgent requirements.
But a defence ministry official said that Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had told the Air Force that there weren’t enough funds to expand the Rafale acquisition and that it must induct an improved version of the indigenous Tejas-Mark 1A. “The IAF (air force) needs to have a minimum number of aircraft at all times. The LCA is our best option at this stage, given our resource constraints,” the defence official said. “The Rafale is our most expensive acquisition. The LCA is our cheapest in the combat category.”
indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/modi-govt-pushes-obsolete-made-in-india-plane-on-reluctant-military/
But a defence ministry official said that Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had told the Air Force that there weren’t enough funds to expand the Rafale acquisition and that it must induct an improved version of the indigenous Tejas-Mark 1A. “The IAF (air force) needs to have a minimum number of aircraft at all times. The LCA is our best option at this stage, given our resource constraints,” the defence official said. “The Rafale is our most expensive acquisition. The LCA is our cheapest in the combat category.”
indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/modi-govt-pushes-obsolete-made-in-india-plane-on-reluctant-military/