Rafale is a “beautiful aircraft” which will give India “unprecedented” combat capabilities but is now “being discussed for the wrong reasons”, two senior Indian Air Force officers said on Wednesday.
A political controversy is raging now, with the Congress alleging financial irregularities in the fighter jet deal with France.
“The Rafale gives us full-spectrum capabilities to a large extent and will revolutionise air power in our sub-continent,” said IAF deputy chief R. Nambiar. He was a addressing a seminar on aerospace industry organised by the Centre for Air Power Studies and the Confederation of Indian Industry.
Talking of the procurement, he said, “…as is well known and is being discussed for the wrong reasons is the Rafale which is likely to come in from September next year into our inventory and will continue to be procured till we reach the number of 36 by the year 2022.”
On the sidelines of the seminar, vice-chief of Air Force Air Marshal S.B. Deo said those criticising the deal must understand the procurement procedure. “It is a beautiful aircraft.. It is a very capable aircraft and we are waiting to fly it,” he said.
He highlighted the depleting squadron strength of the IAF which is down to “just 31 squadrons” and said the “core procurement focus” now was on a multi-role combat fighter.
India has contracted for 36 Rafale jets from France in an inter-governmental agreement at a cost of €7.87bn. However, the Congress has accused the government of financial irregularities and of unduly favouring certain industrialists, which the government has denied.
Chopper project
After delays, the India-Russia joint project to build Ka-226T helicopters in India is making progress. The Defence Ministry has issued the Request for Procurement (RFP) to Indo-Russian Helicopters Limited, the Joint Venture (JV) set up to build the Ka-226Ts in India.
“The RFP was issued two weeks ago. Once the contract is signed, we expect to induct them in three years,” Air Marshal Nambiar said. The JV is between India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Russia’s Rostec-JSC Rosoboronexport and Russian Helicopters.
India and Russia have concluded an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) for 200 helicopters estimated to cost over $1 billion. As per the deal, 60 helicopters will be imported from Russia and at least another 140 will be built in India by HAL with technology transfer. Of the 60 helicopters in flyaway condition, 16 are for the IAF, Air Marshal Nambiar said.
As per procurement procedure, the JV will submit details of pricing and other details, following which contract negotiations will take place. The Kamov-226T helicopters are meant to replace the ageing and obsolete Cheetah and Chetak fleets of the Indian armed forces.
