Why the Rafale deal will be a game
The Rafale deal will bring a sea change in India’s canada goose outlet toronto location defence preparedness, says Claude Arpi.
buy canada goose jacket Nine years ago, the United Progressive Alliance government announced its decision to cancel the process for purchasing 197 helicopters for the army from the European consortium Eurocopter. buy canada goose jacket
Canada Goose Jackets An official defence ministry communiqu gave no reason, merely stating: ‘The government has decided to cancel the ongoing request for proposal (RFP) for procurement of 197 helicopters for the Indian Army. A fresh RFP will be issued shortly.’ Canada Goose Jackets
Quoting ‘sources’, the media conjectured that the negotiations were terminated because of ‘major deviations in the approved parameters of the helicopter and procedures.’ Eurocopter had emerged as the front runner for the deal after years spent on tenders and trials (the only competitor in the race for the deal was Bell, the American firm).
During the last couple of years, many analysts thought the same fate could await the Rafale deal. It seems that may not be the case.
French Defence Minister Jean Yves Le Drian, accompanied by Eric Trappier, chairman, Dassault Aviation and his colleagues, will arrive in Delhi on Thursday, September 22, and the 7.87 billion Euro deal (about Rs 59,000 crore) for 36 Rafale fighter canada goose outlet locations in toronto jets canada goose outlet mall will be signed on Friday, September 23.
canada goose coats The basic cost, armaments, offsets and service value have been finalised a few days ago; https://www.canadagooseoutlet4online.com it was included in a several thousand pages Inter Governmental Agreement. canada goose coats
Canada Goose Coats On Sale It is the end of a long saga which started in 2001. Canada Goose Coats On Sale
A long story which could have been shorter
One can always say ‘all is well which ends well,’ but the fact remains that the process has been much too long. This point should not be brushed aside, because ultimately it is the Indian Air Force which has suffered. Hopefully this issue will be looked into by the ministry of defence and the Prime Minister’s Office.
With two hostile fronts (Pakistan and China), India can’t afford to be ill prepared just because of political and bureaucratic slackness or worse.
Let us look at the 15 year long canada goose parka outlet uk process: India is probably the only country in the world which has such a cumbersome system for defence procurement (it took three months for Egypt to buy 24 Rafales).
While the initial Request for Information for 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft was issued in 2001, the Request for Proposal was only publicised in 2007. This is when the ‘complications’ started.
cheap Canada Goose In January 2012, after a long competitive process which lasted five years, in which the American F/A canada goose outlet in chicago 18 and F 16, Russian MiG 35, European Eurofighter and Swedish Saab Gripen participated, Dassault and its partners Thales and Safran were selected to supply 126 planes to the IAF. cheap Canada Goose
Of the 126, 18 planes were to be manufactured by Dassault in France, while the remaining 108 planes were to be built in India, under a large Transfer of canada goose outlet shop Technology agreement, by Hindustan Aeronitical Ltd.
Soon several disagreements cropped in; the transfer of technology was probably too ambitious. Further, Dassault was not ready to take ‘full responsibility’ for the 108 fighters to be manufactured in India by HAL.
The negotiations had reached an impasse, when in a masterstroke Prime Minister Narendra Modi unlocked the situation.
canada goose clearance On April 9, 2015, an Indian delegation arrived in Paris ahead of the prime minister and the French side was informed of Delhi’s decision to purchase 36 planes ‘off the shelf’. It was a pragmatic move. canada goose clearance
While dropping the MMRCA framework, India considered primarily the IAF’s ‘critical operational necessity’.
On January 25, as President Francois Hollande landed in Delhi to participate in the Republic Day celebrations the next day, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Le Drian signed a MoU for the purchase of 36 Rafale aircraft.
During cheap canada goose the joint press conference at Hyderabad House, Hollande said the ‘real’ deal would be inked ‘dans les jours prochains (in the coming days).’
The ‘coming days’ became nine months.
Canada Goose Outlet One French official involved stated: “With India, we know that we have to learn patience.” The IAF was patient too. Canada Goose Outlet
Nobody can deny that many ‘forces’ did not want the deal to happen.
canadian goose jacket Just to give one example, in 2014, the Russian Ambassador to India, Alexander Kadakin, declared: ‘We (Russia) canada goose outlet new york city are still very surprised that Rafale is being bought, because if the Rafale is intended to oppose Pakistani or Chinese planes, these Rafales will be like mosquitoes on an August night. That’s why I don’t understand why.’ canadian goose jacket
He was obviously batting for the Sukhois.
The propaganda within India has sometimes been ferocious, but once the Modi government opted to go for the ‘off the shelf’ option, it canada goose womens outlet tried hard to get the best of it. It resulted in delay, the ‘coming days’ became months, but at the end the deal could be a game changer for the IAF (and India).
canada goose coats on sale The positive outcome of the delay has been canada goose outlet germany the offset clause. canada goose coats on sale
Initially, Dassault Aviation and its partners were only ready to reinvest 30 per cent of the value of the contract in India to meet its offset obligations.