Mate in retrospect this is clearly another (in a long line) of BS Indian media reports. The fact is that the IAF/MoD officially never confirmed these reports and the fact is that the reports of the Rafale being eliminated from the competition so early based on certain failings has proven to be complelty inconsistent with how the MMRCA selection process was undertaken. The fact is after the April 2011 "down-select" we learnt the "losers" (-35,SH,-16,Gripen) had all failed in one way or another at different stages of trails yet they were allowed to remain in the competion until this "down-select" so kicking out competitors for failings is not how the MMRCA was run.
DUDE what kind of BS u r talking about i dont know.
Rafale to re-enter race for Indian MMRCA
Posted On: May 21, 2009
Rafale Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft.
NEW DELHI (BNS): French fighter aircraft Rafale is back in contention for the 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) which India seeks to acquire.
T
he decision to allow Rafale to take part in the Indian Air force�s bid to acquire MMRCA was taken at a meeting of the Defence Procurement Board here on Monday, media reports on Thursday said.
Earlier Rafale, made by Dassault, was declared out of the race after technical evaluations. The Technical Evaluation Committee had made the recommendation, as Dassault did not provide information on some equipment and add-ons that the IAF wanted to be in the aircraft, The Hindu reported quoting sources in the Defence Ministry.
However, the Defence Procurement Board, which met under the chairmanship of Defence Secretary Vijay Singh, decided not to accept the recommendation. The Board felt the French firm should also get a look-in when the Indian Air Force conducted field trials over the next few months, it said.
After the news emerged in April, the French launched a fresh bid. Many of the issues that remained unresolved were since then addressed, the sources said.
Now that the parameters set out in the technical evaluations had been complied with, it was felt that Rafale should be allowed to take part in the bid, along with Boeing�s F/A18, Lockheed Martin�s F-16, Saab�s Gripen, MIG-35 and Eurofighter Typhoon.
China is not counting on SU35, we just make it as a reference. J10B will keep improving to take on Rafale. China will have hundreds of J10b when the first licensed Rafale off the production line in India.
Ahhh comon now.R u saying Chinese want to buy 40+ Su35 with follow on Agreement for a fun ? Chinese engine has a long way to go.Even when china test flown 5th gen fighter it bought 4++ gen fighter ? It dosnt make sense at all.
Time to close down this thread I 'spose
Dude Please go through this.
Rafale’s dramatic re-entry another Choppergate?
Published March 7, 2013 | By admin
SOURCE: NEW INDIAN EXPRESS
Dassault Aviation, the French company whose Rafale aircraft has been selected by the ministry of defence as the preferred bidder, had been ousted from the contract in the beginning, but then it made a dramatic re-entry to emerge at the top.
Rafale finally edged out the American F-16 and F-18, Russian MiG-35 and Swedish Gripen on the basis of technical performance and the pan-European Consortium’s Eurofighter Typhoon on life-cycle costs.
Reportedly, in April 2009 Rafale had been officially knocked out during the technical evaluation stage of the MMRCA for non-compliance. The aircraft had been barred from taking part in the next stage of the evaluation process, i.e., the field trials. As was reported at the time, there were gaps in the technical bid submitted by Dassault. The ministry of defence queried the French company seeking clarification. However, not convinced by the incomplete responses it received, the ministry excluded Dassault from further participation in the tender.
Then, a month later, news appeared of Rafale being back in the race. A defence ministry official was quoted as saying, “Since it was only paper evaluation and the French company Dassault Aviation has now supplied the missing answers, the Defence Procurement Board has decided to allow Rafale to take part in the actual field trials.”
At the time, much was not made of Dassault’s sudden change of fortune. However, the question was, why would a company leave gaps in its bid and then respond callously to official clarification for a tender widely regarded as the mother of all defence deals? More importantly, what prompted the ministry of defence to make a U-turn and reverse its decision of disqualifying Dassault?
Choppergate has brought these questions back in focus as it raises questions over Dassault’s re-entry into the MMRCA deal. How did Dassault Aviation fly back into the race after being ejected initially for technical non-compliance. As it turns out, Choppergate has an uncanny similarity to MMRCA.
Incidentally, almost three years after the comeback and just weeks after it emerged as the lowest bidder (L-1) in January 2012, media reports appeared of two senior defence ministry officials disagreeing with the cost calculations leading to Rafale’s selection. Both officials were part of the high-level Contract Negotiation Committee (CNC) constituted by the Ministry of Defence to negotiate MMRCA.
Apparently, some information was missing in the French company’s bid forcing CNC to make assumptions. The contention of the dissenting officials was that no one had validated those assumptions. Both officials initially refused to counter sign the calculations but later surrendered after noting their reservations on the file.
This was followed by a letter from then Rajya Sabha member, MV Mysura Reddy to defence minister Antony alleging irregularities in the selection process. Reddy sought a review of the whole procedure. Antony responded by ordering an enquiry, which later gave a green signal.
However, now Choppergate has thrown a fresh challenge in the speedy conclusion of MMRCA, which has been termed as the ‘highest priority’ acquisition by the chief of Air Force.
Determined to not let MMRCA become another scandal, Antony has promised multiple levels of scrutiny by different government agencies including the Central Vigilance Commission before the deal moves to the finance ministry and finally the Cabinet Committee on Security for approval.
This vetting is bound to add to the time it will take to resolve the outstanding issues. According to highly placed sources, cost inflation by Dassault and its unwillingness to transfer high technology and reservations against a lead role for Hindustan Aeronautics in the local production of 108 aircraft are some of the sticky points that have raised further issues.
In an indication that signatures on the contract were still some distance away, Dassault Aviation chief executive Eric Trappier reportedly said in February at Aero India, “It’s not surprising that it takes a bit of time.”
“It would be ideal to sign it in 2013,” he added.