NEW DELHI: Paving the way for the ‘mother of all defense deals’, defense minister Rajnath Singh-led Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) on Thursday approved the acquisition of 114 Rafale fighter jets from France, just five days ahead of the arrival of French President Emmanuel Macron in India.Though the defense ministry did not provide the exact cost of the 114 Rafale jets, the proposed govt-to-govt deal is expected to be worth around Rs 3.25 lakh crore, which, when signed with France’s Dassault Aviation after final cost negotiations and Cabinet’s approval, will make it India’s biggest defense deal since Independence.About 20 of the multi-role fighters will be bought in fly-away condition and are expected to be added to the IAF fleet by 2030, while the rest will be manufactured with Dassault-HAL collaboration in India. The other purchases cleared by DAC include those for P-8I Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft from US aviation major Boeing, combat missiles and high-altitude pseudo satellite. The total cost of all the acquisitions, including Rafales, cleared on Thursday works out to Rs 3.6 lakh crore.The DAC nod for more Rafale jets is the govt’s biggest vote of confidence on the French multirole fighter, which IAF vice-chief Air Marshal Nagesh Kapoor described just a day before as the “Operation Sindoor hero” for its precision strikes on Pakistan’s terror infrastructure and military bases. The confrontation with Pakistan saw a systematic campaign by social media influencers, suspected to be backed by Pakistan and China, to discredit the French aircraft amid unconfirmed reports of the loss of the French fighter jets.The IAF currently operates 36 Rafale jets and the Indian Navy last year placed orders for 26 of its naval variants. Once the 114-jet deal gets completed, IAF will have a fleet of 150 Rafales.“The procurement of Multi Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) will enhance the capability of undertaking air dominance roles across the spectrum of conflict and significantly boost the deterrence capabilities of IAF with long-range offensive strikes. The majority of MRFA to be procured will be manufactured in India,” the defense ministry said. Besides the around 20 aircraft to be procured in fly-away condition, the rest will be “made in India” with up to 50-60% indigenous content.The IAF desperately needs the 114 Rafale jets as it currently operates just 29 fighter squadrons, well short of its sanctioned strength of 42 squadrons, at a time when threat perceptions from Pakistan and China are rising, especially after last year’s conflict with Islamabad.A formal contract following the DAC nod will take some time as the defense ministry will have to carry out negotiations with Dassault Aviation to finalize the cost and finer details of the weapons package and then the PM Modi-led Cabinet Committee on Security will have to give its final approval.The DAC’s nod has come nearly 13 years after the defense ministry had completed the groundwork for procurement of a fleet of Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA). In April 2019, IAF had issued a request for information (initial tender) to acquire 114 jets at a cost of around $18 billion.The jet deal is urgently required as India is unlikely to get the new fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) anytime in the near future, and HAL’s Tejas MkIA production program is moving at a snail’s pace due to dependence on US company GE for its engines.For the Navy, the DAC on Thursday cleared P8I long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft (likely to be six) from Boeing and a 4-MW marine gas turbine-based electric power generator. The acquisition of P8I aircraft will significantly boost the Navy’s capability for long-range anti-submarine warfare, maritime surveillance and maritime strike capability. Induction of a power generator will minimize the dependency on foreign manufacturers, ensuring self-reliance in power generation requirements for the sea force.For the Indian Army, approval has been given for the procurement of anti-tank mines (Vibhav) and overhaul of vehicle platforms of armored recovery vehicles (ARVs), T-72 tanks and infantry combat vehicles (BMP-II). For the Indian Coast Guard, nod has been given for the procurement of an electro-optical infra-red system for Dornier aircraft.
