IAF opts for the Rafale

First, the Americans, Russians and Swedes were ejected from the hotly contested race. Now, the Europeans too have been shot down in the dogfight, leaving only the French flying high in the Indian skies. After an exhaustive technical and commercial evaluation spread over five years, India on Tuesday selected French jet Rafale over the Eurofighter Typhoon for the gigantic, almost $20 billion, MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) programme to supply 126 fighters to the IAF—the largest such “open-tender’’ military aviation deal in the world. It will take 4-5 months for the deal to be inked after the final round of commercial negotiations between the defence ministry and French aviation major Dassault, and the requisite final nod from the CCS. Under the MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) project contract that India will sign with French aviation major Dassault, the first 18 jets will come in “flyaway condition” from France from mid-2015 onwards, while the remaining 108 fighters will later be manufactured in India over six years after a transfer of technology (ToT) to Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL). Sources said the defence ministry on Tuesday declared Rafale to be cheaper (or lowest bidder, L-1) than Typhoon after extensive mathematical calculations and data verification of the unit cost of the two jets, lifecycle costs of operating them over a 40-year period, with 6,000 hours of flying, as well as cost of the ToT. India’s decision will cause tremendous heartburn among the four countries backing the Typhoon—the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy. Realizing this “sensitivity’’, the external affairs ministry on Tuesday “briefed’’ the missions of the four losing European countries in New Delhi, while the MoD explained the “determination of L-1’’ to aviation companies Dassault and European EADS, said sources. Defence minister A K Antony had himself made it clear that “no external factor or geo-political consideration’’ would play a role in the MMRCA selection process, which would solely depend on technical and commercial factors, in what will be the single biggest arms deal to be inked by UPA-II before the 2014 elections. France has reasons to be euphoric, with the twin-engine Rafale still to find favour with any other international customer. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the MMRCA deal would “include significant ToT guaranteed by the French government”. France, the only major Western country not to impose sanctions on India after the 1998 Pokhran-II nuclear tests, has three major ongoing defence projects with India .This “mother’’ of all defence deals could well become the “granny’’ since India will in all probability go in for another 63 fighters after the first 126 jets. The Rafale beat Russian MiG-35 Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Falcon Boeing’s F-18 Hornet Swedish Saab Grippen Euro-Fighter Typhoon