While a formal offer was presented by the French side in December, the current round of negotiations will finalise the price, weapons package, maintenance terms and delivery timelines for the aircraft. The acquisition of Rafale Marine fighter jets was cleared by the Defence Procurement Board in July last year, days ahead of the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Paris.
Also Read: India to start talks for 26 Rafale Marine jets
The jets will be manufactured to India-specific standards and will have several indigenous systems as well, including weapons and communication. The Indian Navy will get 22 single-seated Rafale Marine aircraft along with four trainer aircraft. 36 Rafale jets are already in service with the Indian Air Force. Rafale-M has superior air power as compared to the present MIG-29K deployed on the aircraft carrier.
A team of officials from the French government, fighter-manufacturer Dassault and weapon systems integrator Thales, among others, is arriving here on May 30 for the talks with the contract negotiation committee (CNC) constituted by the Indian defence ministry.
The French side has stated that if required, it can increase the rate of production to 30 aircraft per year from the existing 18 per year. The French received multiple orders from different countries after India first selected it for its requirement multirole combat aircraft deal where all participants were made to go through a rigorous trial procedure.Also Read: Here’s how China’s Fujian aircraft carrier poses new challenges for Indian NavyThe defence and strategic ties between India and France have been on an upswing in the last few years, and the Rafale-M deal will further strengthen these ties.
How French Rafale-M defeated American F/A-18 Super Hornet
After the Indian Navy commissioned its second aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, the question was which fighter jets will pair with it. Experts thought any delay in resolving the shortage of enough fighter jets will make Vikrant toothless and the Navy will not be able to tap the true potential of its new moving airbase without a strong air fleet.
Both Rafale (M) and US-made F/A-18 Super Hornets had successfully completed operational demonstration tests and the Navy was looking at buying either of these aircraft. Rafale M emerged as the frontrunner over the American F/A-18 Super Hornet.
Rafale-M was found to be “more suitable in meeting the operational requirements and criteria” of the Navy compared to the Boeing-manufactured F/A-18. Both the fighters underwent operational demonstration trials to assess their suitability and capability at the shore-based test facility (SBTF) at INS Hansa in Goa, which has a ski-jump to resemble an aircraft carrier’s deck in 2022.
The French fighter, in any case, had a head start on logistical and other grounds given that the IAF has already inducted 36 Rafales under the Rs 59,000 crore deal inked with France in September 2016.
The China challenge
The Navy only has 40 of the 45 MiG-29K jets, inducted from Russia at a cost of $2 billion from 2009 onwards, to operate from the decks of its two over 40,000-tonne aircraft carriers, the older Russian-origin INS Vikramaditya and the new indigenous INS Vikrant. The MiG-29Ks have also been dogged by poor serviceability and other problems over the years.
With the indigenous twin-engine deck-based fighter (TEDBF) likely to take time to be developed, the Navy had pushed for the 26 Rafale-M jets as a stopgap measure. Then Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar had said in 2022 that the 26 fighters were an “interim solution” till the indigenous TEDBF being manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is ready. It will take the TEDBF at least a decade to become fully operational.
China is now conducting trials of its third aircraft carrier, the over 80,000-tonne Fujian, after earlier inducting the 60,000-tonne Liaoning and the 66,000-tonne Shandong, and building more such warships. The Indian government, in contrast, is yet to even give the preliminary nod for the long-pending case for a third 45,000-tonne aircraft carrier, let alone a more potent 65,000-tonne one, which will take at least a decade to build.
Significantly, the Fujian — like the newest American carrier USS Gerald R Ford — has an electromagnetic catapult system to also launch much heavier aircraft for surveillance, early-warning and electronic warfare. While the 10 US Nimitz-class carriers have steam-powered catapults, INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant as well as Liaoning and Shandong, China’s other two aircraft carriers, have only angled ski-jumps that allow fighters to take off under their own power.
While its spy vessels frequently sail close to India, China has not yet sailed an aircraft carrier into the Indian Ocean but is expected to do so within the next few years. It already has other vessels operating regularly in the region and has established its first overseas base in the Horn of Africa country of Djibouti, which gives it easy access to the Indian Ocean.
“New Delhi sees Beijing as encroaching into its traditional sphere of influence, especially in the Indian Ocean region,” Ridzwan Rahmat, a Singapore-based analyst with the defense intelligence company Janes, had told AP last year.
“While a potential war with China will likely be fought inland, China’s presence in the Indian Ocean region can severely disrupt India’s sea lines of communication, which will be essential in sustaining the war effort. The Indian navy’s recent modernization track is to ensure that scenarios like these will not take root,” Rahmat said.
(With inputs from agencies)
