LEMON
There has been several hostile press on India's multi-billion dollar Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) acquisition program. Dassault Rafale after intensive testing and evaluations won the fiercely contested competition to supply 126 multi-role combat aircraft (could go upto 200) to the Indian Air Force (IAF). Initially the Defence Ministry had allocated 82,000 Crore (US $13 billion) for the purchase of these aircraft, making it then the world's single largest military aircraft deal. The MMRCA tender was floated with the idea of filling the gap between the LCA Tejas and the much feared & revered Sukhoi Su-30MKI air superiority fighter.
Clearly the RAFALE is one of the worlds most advanced new generation omni-role combat aircraft available on the market (this is what Dassault Aviation says), it is a balanced multi-role aircraft that would be able to replace/phase out several types of combat aircraft in use by the IAF. The contract has a 50 percent offset clause built into it. Which means the deal will bring considerable amount of money in French high-tech into India’s defence production sector. Complete transfer of technology is mandatory so cutting-edge knowhow can be transferred to India’s own advanced fighter program.
The Rafale, which means "gust" in French, seems like the perfect choice. The Rafale was shortlisted by the IAF because of its superior technology which fulfilled its requirement to acquire a true Multi-Role capable aircraft which include air to air missions, air to ground and air to sea interdiction Further, India's unique and dynamic geographics entails a platform to be able to perform in the most adverse of conditions which includes searing heat and dust, humidity and bitter cold of the Himalayan region. IAF favored the French as it is already well-equipped with French Mirage-2000, the Rafale is operationally and logistically very similar to its predecessor. Moreover, the Mirage’s played a decisive role during the Kargil war and the Rafale itself has seen its share of action in Afghanistan and Libya. Lest we forget, France has been India's true friend and has supported it on several international issues.
More significantly, the IAF Mirage 2000s boasts an impeccable safety record over the past 30 years.
More significantly, the IAF Mirage 2000s boasts an impeccable safety record over the past 30 years.
DEMON:
- Firstly, the cost of a fighter is a vital piece of information, the bill for the Rafale deal has doubled from $10.40 billion in 2009 to around $22 billion today, and this will exceed $30 billion over the years, in other words each Rafale will effectively cost approximately $238 million. That is an enormous amount of loot for a developing economy like India. Conversely, an advanced country like the UK procured the Lockheed Martin's F-35B (V/STOL) version of the stealth fighter (Vertical and/or Short Take-off and Landing) for $190 million a piece, which is clearly a full generation ahead of the Rafale. South Korea also signed a deal with Lockheed Martin to buy 40 F-35 fighter jets for about $7.06 billion which works out to roughly $177 million per unit. Japan and Israel have also inked similar deals with LM for the purchase of these stealth jets.
- Additionally, cost of several secondary requirements has also to be factored along with the primary deal, these include maintenance cost, transfer of technology pricing (ToT), software source codes, flight control laws, weapons store, helmet-mounted heads-up-display and the exclusive AESA (active electronically scanned array) radar. Moreover, ToT provision in foreign defence contracts are fallacious since core technologies in reality are never transferred. HAL on the other hand is also incapable of absorbing advanced technologies as historical evidence proves that it only assembles aircraft from imported kits. This lacunae on HAL's part incidentally is the main bone of contention between the negotiating parties.
- Dassault Aviation is under pressure since they haven’t been able to make a single aircraft sale outside their own country excepting Egyp. Several countries in the past have junked the deal with France which include Brazil, Canada, the Netherlands, Singapore, Norway, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and even Morocco! Certainly the MMRCA deal will bring immense cheer to the program!
- France is desperate to sell the fighter as absence of a substantial deal such as India's MMRCA procurement will cushion Dassault production lines from a hard landing or else it will have severe ramifications on the French aerospace industry, and as a direct result of a possible cancellation it will propel the already high price to unaffordable levels even for the French Air Force.
- Rafale acquisition will further exacerbate the existing force structure and logistics nightmare routinely faced by the squadrons in operations owing to the complexity of maintaining a diversified combination of combat aircraft.
- It is also alleged that France choreograph the air war strikes on Libya & Afghanistan to showcase Rafale's capabilities in a bid to influence India’s decision making process on the fighter aircraft's finalization.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the above failings renders the aircraft utterly unfit for the IAF and it will be prudent for the current dispensation to cancel this overblown deal as it would send a clear message to vested interests in the military bureaucracy, HAL & foreign firms that India cannot be taken for a ride anymore.
Finally, it is hardly outrageous to say that the Rafale in the end seems a Demon masquerading as a Lemon.
