Deemed as a biggest momentum to the India-France Rafale deal and the Make-in-India vision, Paris has signalled its willingness to co-production of the fighter jets with critical technology transfer. This strategic message from Paris comes at a crucial time, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit to the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit France for the G-7 Summit on June 13 and 14. Meanwhile, French diplomatic sources on June 11, Thursday reiterated that Paris is ready for comprehensive defence cooperation with India, including the co-development and co-production of the Rafale fighter jets. The defence deal with India will be based on the principle of equal partnership rather than mere “customer-provider” principle. The deal will be aligned with the Make-in-India vision of New Delhi, French diplomatic sources further added.
In this direction, the deal to attain 114 Rafale fighter jets for the Indian Airforce will be in a different defence model, compared to the previous purchase of the fighter aircrafts by India from France. During his visit to France, Prime Minister Modi is set to hold extensive bilateral discussions with French President Emmanuel Macron, on the sidelines of the G-7 Summit. The Rafale defence deal is expected to be one among the apex agenda of discussions.
According to French diplomatic sources, the defence programme will be developed jointly by France & India and will be fully aligned with India’s ‘Make in India’ requirements. They added that defence and technology cooperation between the two countries was entering a new phase, with greater emphasis on local manufacturing, integration of local weapons systems and encouraging greater participation by Indian industries and entities. “Yes, we are comfortable sharing technology, and ‘Make in India’ will be part of the deal”, the French diplomatic sources affirmed about its confidence in India as a credible defence partner. “Integration of local weapons is also a part of the deal. very substantive discussions are on at the moment” ”, the sources further added.
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Defence wrote a formal Letter of Request(LoR) to France requesting for 114 Rafale fighter aircrafts for the Indian Airforce. It is said that the request is under consideration and the French government will reply within 2-3 months. If rationalised, this updated Rafale deal will facilitate co-production where Dassault(French manufacturing company) will partner with India firms. The 114 fighter jets will have more than 50-60 per cent of indigenous elements.
As per the sources, engines, avionics, airframes will be part of the transfer of technology(ToT). The Rafales will be modified and upgraded so that it is capable of integrating other Indian weapons, missiles and ammunition. The 114 Rafale jets are said to have next-generation active electronically scanned array(AESA) radar that helps for long-range detection. It will have improved resilience to electronic warfare and novel systems to detect and counter new & emerging threats.
These 114 Rafale jets thus boosts the offensive and defensive capabilities of the Indian Airforce and will fuel strategic advantage to the Airforce fleet against intruding enemy threats. The deal will also accelerate a big momentum for the defence indigenisation goal of India and will place New Delhi as a key defence manufacturing hub and credible defence partner in the regional security calculus. In this direction, PM Modi visit to France will render a greater push to the Rafale deal that is set to accomplish the dual goal of India, which is strengthening national security and revolutionising defence indigenisation.
