What is Rafale?

Rafale is a French twin-engine multi-role fighter jet designed and built by Dassault Aviation. The Rafale jets are considered one of the most potent combat jets globally.

What was the UPA deal?

• India began the process to buy a fleet of 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) in 2007 after the Defence Ministry, headed then by Congress leader A K Antony, cleared the proposal from the Indian Air Force.
• The contenders for the mega deal were Lockheed Martin's F-16s, Eurofighter Typhoon, Russia's MiG-35, Sweden's Gripen, Boeing's F/A-18s and Dassault Aviation's Rafale.
• After a long-drawn process, bids were opened in December 2012 and Dassault Aviation emerged as L-1 (lowest bidder). In the original proposal, 18 planes were to be manufactured in France and 108 in India in collaboration with the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.
• There were lengthy negotiations between the then UPA government and Dassault on prices and transfer of technology. The final negotiations continued till early 2014 but the deal could not go through.
• Details of the negotiatied price per Rafale were not officially announced, but it was suggested by the then UPA government that the size of the deal would be USD 10.2 billion. The Congress claimed per aircraft rate including avionics and weapons was zeroed in at Rs 5.26 billion (As per Euro exchange rates prevailing then).

What was the deal finalised by Modi government?

• During his visit to France, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 10 announced India will purchase 36 Rafale jets in a government-to-government agreement. After the announcement, questions were raised by the Opposition on how the PM finalised the deal without approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security.
• A joint statement issued on April 10, 2015, after talks between Modi and then French President Franois Hollande, said they agreed to conclude an Inter-Governmental Agreement for supply of 36 Rafale jets on terms that would be better than conveyed by Dassault Aviation as part of a separate process underway.
• The statement said the "aircraft and associated systems and weapons would be delivered on the same configuration as had been tested and approved by Indian Air Force, in clear reference to negotiations and testing process for the Rafale jets under the UPA government.

The Final deal?

• India and France signed an Euro 7.87-billion (Rs 590 billion approximately) deal on September 23, 2016 for 36 Rafale jets. The delivery of the aircraft will start from September 2019.
• The deal was finalised on the basis of the procurement procedure followed under the UPA government.

The allegations?

• The Congress has been accusing massive irregularities in the deal, alleging that the government was procuring each aircraft at a cost of over Rs 16.70 billion as against Rs 5.26 billion finalised by the UPA government. The party has also demanded answers from the government on why state-run aerospace major HAL was not involved in the deal.
• The Congress has also sought to know price details of the aircraft and how the rate per aircraft has gone up from Rs 5.26 billion to Rs 16.7 billion. The government has refused to share the details, citing a secrecy clause of a 2008 pact between India and France.
• Congress' A K Antony, who was defence minister in 2008 when India and France inked an inter-governmental agreement on defence procurement, said the government's claim that the secrecy clause was forcing it to not reveal price details of the deal was "totally wrong".
• The party claimed that Qatar had purchased 12 Rafale fighter jets in November 2017 for USD 108.33 million per aircraft (Rs 694.80 crore).
• The Congress has also alleged the government was benefitting the Reliance Defence Ltd (RDL) through the deal as the company has set up a joint venture with Dassault Aviation to execute the offset obligation for the Rs 590 billion deal.
• The has party alleged Reliance Defence was formed just 12 days before the announcement of the Rafale deal by the prime minister on April 10, 2015. The RDL has rejected all the charges.
• Under India's offset policy, foreign defence entities are mandated to spend at least 30 per cent of the total contract value in India through procurement of components or setting up of research and development facilities.
• On October 3, 2016, RDL and Dassault Aviation announced a joint venture (JV) in the aerospace sector and a year later, foundation stone of a manufacturing facility was laid in Mihan, Nagpur.
• September 2018: French publication Mediapart interviews former French president Hollande, who says that he had no choice in selecting the Indian offset partner and name of Reliance was given by Indian side. India's Ministry of Defence issues statement reiterating that neither of the two governments we're involved in commercial decision. Dassault Aviation issues statement claiming it was Dassault's decision to choose Reliance and it had signed similar contarcts with several other companies including companies such as BTSL, DEFSYS, 

Why India Wants France's Dassault Rafale Fighter Jet: They Can Carry Nuclear Weapons

Why New Delhi is looking to buy 36 planes from Paris is obvious--at least to those who track India's nuclear weapons program.
The jets may end up lugging nuclear bombs, as officials told The Indian Express this month that the jets are “to be used as an airborne strategic delivery system .”
But if you’re from Pakistan or China and you’re worried?—?don’t sweat. Thirty-six Rafales are not enough to give India an advantage over its nuclear-armed neighbors. India’s upcoming ballistic missiles pack significantly greater range and are far more difficult to stop.

• India had no experience mating nuclear warheads to ballistic missiles, and its launchers in the 1990s were either too slow to fire?—?veritable suicide during a nuclear war?—?or too unreliable to depend upon.This left India’s 1970s-era Mirage 2000s to take on much of the job. But the warheads were an awkward fit, and only highly skilled pilots could take off with the cumbersome payloads attached underneath their planes’ bellies?—?making the jets aerodynamically tricky to fly.Nor did Dassault initially design the Mirage 2000 with nuclear weapons in mind. As a result, the Indian Air Force feared its planes’ fly-by-wire systems could be knocked out by the electromagnetic pulses from the detonating bombs.
• “The modification of aircraft for safe and reliable delivery of a nuclear weapon turned out to be a huge technical and managerial challenge that consumed the [state-owned Defense Research and Development Organization’s] attention for six years and perhaps more,” Kampani wrote.

“There was a major problem integrating the nuclear weapon with the Mirage.”
India has come a long way since. It has upgraded its Mirages, possesses up to 120 nuclear warheads, has completed its first ballistic missile submarine and has three different (and more modern) kinds of Agni ballistic missile launchers already deployed, with longer-range iterations on the way.
But the submarine Arihant is more of a test-bed than a credible weapon system. India’s land-based launchers lack rigorous testing regimens and still suffer from reliability issues . The most advanced operational launcher, the Agni-3, numbers fewer than 10 in service, according to the Federation of American Scientists.
Most Indian launchers are older Prithvis, which are short range and slow to prepare. New Delhi does not possess MIRVs?—?devastating clusters of nuclear warheads which ride together aboard a single missile, break apart and rain down on their targets. Nor is it likely that India has the will or expertise to develop them.
“Despite India’s considerable progress in developing credible ballistic missiles, its fighter-bombers still constitute the backbone of India’s operational nuclear strike force,” FAS analysts Hans Kristensen and Robert Norris wrote in a 2015 review.
India also possesses dozens of 1960s-era Jaguar attack jets?—?developed by France and Britain?—?which serves in a secondary nuclear attack role.
But you can see why India prefers aircraft. They’re technologically simple compared to missiles, can be recalled and are highly visible to an adversary, creating a deterrent effect. That’s good for keeping the peace, but during a war, they’re more easily spotted and shot down.
And the same is true for the canard delta wing Rafale. To be sure, the plane has a longer range, a lot more thrust and a greater payload capacity than the older Mirage 2000.
So the planes specifically designed with nuclear weapons in mind will give India a modestly more effective strike force than the aging one it has now.
But regardless, India will only buy … 36 Rafales. That’s just two squadrons, and far below the 126 fighters planned several years ago. (That deal collapsed.) So the nuclear competition with Pakistan won’t change because of the jets.

What is so special about Rafale fighter jet?

1. India in September 2016 inked a direct deal with the French government to purchase 36 new Rafale fighter jets in a 7.87 billion euro deal that is likely to bring major work to the Indian private sector in terms of offsets under the make in India policy.
2. The Rafale deal for 36 jets includes over 3 billion euros of work for the Indian industry over the next 7-8 years according to top defence ministry officials. "This has a huge potential to develop direct and indirect employment opportunities.
3. high end technology like engine know-how, major structural assembly is also likely in India, besides a chunk of avionics work.
4. India will also get latest weapons like the Meteor and Scalp missiles as part of the contract, besides a 5 year support package that assures high availability of the fighter. India will pay a 15 % advance and deliveries are to start in three years.

India Specific enhancements

The Rafale deal caters to specific Indian air force needs. The fighter jet will be modified by France to meet the following:

• Helmet mounted sights and targeting system to give the pilots lightening quick ability to shoot off weapons.
• Ability to taken off from high altitude airbases like Leh on a 'cold start' - for quick reaction deployment
• radar warning receiver to identify hostile tracking systems
• A towed decoy system to thwart incoming missile attacks
•  French industrial support for fighter for 50 years

VITAL Stats

• 7.87 billion Euro: Deal cost. This includes weapon systems, five year support, training, infrastructure and warranties. 15% to be paid in advance.
• 91.7 million euros: as per contract, if other costs like weapons, training etc not counted, per unit price of single seat Rafale is 91.7 million euros
• 75 % availability: French side will ensure that at any given point, at least 75 percent of the fleet is combat worthy. Failing which, heavy penalities to be invoked.
• 67 months delivery: All aircraft ordered to be delivered within 67 months with first one coming in by 36 months
• 50% offsets: Indian industry to get major boost as French side will invest half of deal value in Make in India products or technology transfer. Indian Partners to be firmed up within a year.
• 328 million Euros: Saved by negotiation efforts by the Indian side on the Rafale deal, according to defence ministry sources.
• 28/8: according to deal, India to get 28 single seater jets and 8 twin seaters for training.

BEST VS LATEST

The Rafale will be India's most capable fighter aircraft. These, according to defence ministry officials, are the major capability differences it will make compared to the current best - the SU 30 MKI.

• Loitering capability
• 1.5 times of Su 30
• Range 780-1055 km vs 400-550 of Su 30
• 5 sorties per 24 hours against 3 by Su 30
• 75% availability against 55% of Su 30
• WEAPONS: India has managed to negotiate the acquisition of the latest weapons package for the Rafale. These are the new weapons, beyond the standard package.
• SCALP: a precision long range ground attack missile that can take out targets with extreme accuracy. Has a range of 300 km, capped by the missile technology control regime.
• METEOR: a beyond visual range air to air missile that is possibly the best in its class. Can take .. out enemy aircraft at range of over 100 km.

How recent  Rafale defence deal has left India lagging China, Pakistan

• In March, a senior general testified before a parliamentary defence committee that more than two-thirds of the army’s equipment was obsolete, while only eight per cent was state-of-the-art.
• Defence Ministry sources have ruled out early tendering for the announced purchase of 110 medium fighters, worth an estimated US$15 billion to US$18 billion. This means the Indian Air Force (IAF) must make do with just 31 squadrons of fighter aircraft – 11 short of its authorised 42 squadrons, which planners believe are essential for a “two-front war” against regional adversaries China and Pakistan, if they were to join forces
• Nor is early movement likely on the Indian Navy’s global procurement of 57 fighters, or an aircraft carrier that is to be built in the country. Meanwhile, the US$6 billion purchase of the S-400 Triumf air defence missile system from Russia, which was earmarked to be signed during an India-Russia summit next month, is likely to be postponed.
• Also shifted to the back burner is the US$6 billion purchase of six conventional submarines and army equipment such as armoured vehicles and assault rifles.
• By contrast, China and Pakistan are continuing to arm rapidly. Beijing is selling Islamabad its increasingly sophisticated fighter aircraft, warships and ground systems, building up Pakistan as its cat’s paw in South Asia. The capability gap between Indian and Chinese armed forces, already worrying for New Delhi planners, is growing inexorably. Even Pakistan, which once feared an existential threat from India, now talks confidently of halting the Indian military without having to trip the nuclear threshold.
•  For the IAF, which fields just 600 fighter aircraft against the 2,000 that China and Pakistan can marshal between them, the cancellation of the 126-aircraft tender and its replacement by a contract for just 36 fighters leaves it short of 90 fighters. And with the government going slow on further procurements, this deficit is likely to deepen.
• Indeed, a more deliberate consideration might well have concluded that, instead of allowing Dassault to negotiate from the favourable position of a single vendor, competition could have been injected in the bidding by introducing Eurofighter GmbH into what was effectively a fresh procurement. The Eurofighter Typhoon had, like the Rafale, met the IAF’s performance requirements; and, in June 2015, Eurofighter had written to the government offering to reduce by 20 per cent the price it had quoted for the Typhoon.
• The Rafale procurement is now before the Comptroller and the Auditor General, India’s top auditor, which will scrutinise the process for procedural correctness. The opposition, visualising this as a political opportunity, wants to bring the issue before a joint committee of parliament. Either way, the “Rafale scam” has become the latest phrase in India’s rich lexicon of defence procurement controversies. The BJP is understandably worried.
• For India’s military, caught in the political crossfire, this can only be bad news.