Landmark Rafale Jet Deal Inked
Q. India inked Rafale deal with which country?- Published on 26 Sep 16a. France
b. Germany
c. USA
d. Italy
ANSWER: France
16 years after the IAF mooted the need for replacement fighter jets, India inked a INR 59,000 crore (approx.) deal with France on 22nd September.
- Inter-government agreement was the historic Rafale deal which will ensure the first fighter jet will be inducted into the IAF within 36 months.
- Rafale is a potent aircraft for deep strike capabilities and can move at high altitudes
- It has potential weapons with the most modern technology.
- Induction of 36 fighter jets- 28 single seaters and 8 twin seaters- will benefit fighter squadrons in the IAF
- French fighter jets will be equipped with meteor air-to-air and Mica air-to-land missiles
- 74 percent of the offsets are mandated to be exported from India. Close to 6 percent of the offsets are for technological sharing
- Export worth Euro 3 billion will happen to India due from offsets as part of the deal
- Indian version of the fighter jet will also have 14 Indian specific enhancements
- These include helmet mounted display, Doppler beam radar, IR search and track and towed decoy
- French are also guaranteeing performance based logistics support which means 75 percent of the fleet will be airworthy at any given time
- Deal also provides free training to 10 IAF personnels estimated to be worth Euro 100 million
- As per the agreement,15 percent of the total amount will be paid in advance while 25 percent in 12-18 months and the rest on schedule as per delivery with 5 percent of the amount being retained till the deal is completed
- Sources also indicated that base price of single seat fighter is Euro 91.07 billion while for a two seater it is Euro 94 billion
- Deal comes with a saving of 750 million Euros
- 50 percent offset means big and small Indian businesses will gain work to the tune of 3 billion Euros
- With state-of-the-art missiles like Meteor and Scalp, IAF will have the capability in including this in its selection of the BVR or Beyond Visual Range Meteor air-to-air missile with range in excess of 150 km
- Integration on the Rafale jets means IAF can hit targets in Pakistan and across northern and eastern borders
- Pakistan has a BVR range of 80 km right now
- Scalp a long range air-to ground cruise missile in excess range of 300km along with meteor gives IAF the edge
- Vannilla price of the 36 aircrafts is 3.42 billion Euros. Armaments cost 710 million Euros with Israeli Head mounted displays. These Indian specific changes will cost 1,700 million Euros.
