Dassault RAFALE - LEMON or DEMON

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.

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.

Source IDN

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Selecting the Right Mix of Combat Aircraft

We have been hearing for a long time about various different combat aircrafts and also more recently about the LCA Tejas since its second initial operational clearance. Considering the wealth of information available on all of these combat aircrafts, it is but natural to make a comparison of all of these combat aircrafts.

The combat aircrafts that are being considered for this comparison are JAS 39 Gripen, F-15 Eagle, F-16, F/A-18E Super Hornet, F-35 Stealth, Euro Fighter, Dassault Rafale, Mig-29, Su-30, Su-35, T-50 FGFA, J-10 and the LCA.

The aircrafts are categorized based on their maximum take-off weight as Light-Combat, Top Line Combat, or Medium Role Combat.

The pricing and configuration is taken at the maximum potential of these aircraft

Let us first look at the Light Combat variants. The first ranking goes to the JAS39 Gripen aircraft from Sweden as it has the same or less maximum take-off weight as the other two contenders, the LCA and the Chinese J10. But it has a better range of operations and combat radius and offers a more potent configuration of weapon systems. 

For example the Gripen can easily shoot down the LCA and the J10 from 180 miles and deliver a load of missiles more than 500 miles away. Considering it has a combat radius of 432 miles, it can easily do its job and get away. Though the price of the Gripen is twice that of the LCA or the J10, a small squadron of these high tech aircraft with less number of pilots can take care twice or thrice the number of LCA / J-10 squadrons.

The Indian Air Force is right in demanding a more potent LCA than its present form to take on the Light Combat role. If the LCA MKII or MKIII can have a more powerful and fuel efficient engine, it can have a better range and carry more long range weapons like the Brahmos ASM and longer range AAMs at a reasonable price.

Let us now consider the Top Line combat aircrafts that also includes the still under development stealth aircraft by Russia and India as also the F-35 Stealth Fighter that the US and its allies are equipping themselves with.

The F-35 is clearly the winner here primarily because of its advanced stealth capabilities and design as also it offers the maximum weapon load of 8100 KGS giving it the flexibility of equipping itself with a range of long range AAMs and ASMs and delivering it with a sufficiently comfortable combat range thus ensuring survivability. This combat aircraft can only be challenged by the joint Russian/Indian T-50 equipped with longer range missiles and a longer combat radius. Which means the T-50 may well be able to detect the F-35 at closer range and engage it and then be able to fire missiles from a longer distance and turn around and get away. The F-35 on the other hand with its more stealthy features may get behind the T-50 and fire the first shot.

The second rung of Top Line combat aircraft constitutes the Su-30MKI, Su-35 and the F15 Eagle.

The Su-30MKI is far superior to the Su-35 in weapon and range capabilities and hence can defeat the Su-35 that the Chinese have purchased from the Russians on this count. The Su-30MKI has better long range weapons and once equipped with the supersonic Brahmos will make it a fearful weapon platform. The Su-35 on the other hand is faster than the Su-30 and hence could take down the Su-30 in close combat. The Russian Su-35 has stealth coatings that also make it difficult to be detected by radars. 

The F-15 Eagle is still the King of the skies and is faster than the Su-30MKI or the Su-35 as well has a higher operating ceiling which means it can go higher than both combat aircraft and shoot them down using its look down radar and long range missiles. However, the Su-30MKI may be able to detect the F-15 at longer ranges and fire the first shot at it. When it comes to close range combat, both aircrafts are equally matched though the Su-30MKI has an edge though everything depends on the pilots. The F-15 has more rounds of ammunition than the Su-30MKI or the Su-35.

The F/A-18 Super Hornet is the odd man out here. With a shorter combat radius and slower speeds, this combat aircraft will need to go with a fully loaded weapons suite to neutralize the Su-30MKI or the Su-35. Both the adversaries can shoot down the F/A-18 using the look down mode as they have a higher operating ceiling and the Su-30MKI may carry longer range missiles though US combat aircrafts are known to have a higher kill ratio versus Russian fighters.

The last category of combat aircraft here is the Medium Role Combat aircraft that the Indian Air force recently went for in selecting the French made Rafale combat aircraft. 

From the above table it is quite clear that this decision was a wise decision as the Rafale has the best combat range and weapon configuration. However, it remains to be seen what the IAF versions of Rafale are equipped with. Certainly they will be French AAM or American AAM missies and not longer range Russian or Indian missiles.

It is also doubt if the Rafale will be able to integrate the supersonic Brahmos cruise missile. So though selecting the Rafale is a wise decision in terms of quality it may be the most expensive choice here. The Rafale has more weapon payload capacity than even the Top-Line combat aircrafts and hence can carry more bombs and missiles than the Su-30MKI theoretically.

However, it is slower than then all the other aircrafts in this category, namely the F-16, EuroFighter and the Mig-29. The F-16 though offers a good match to the Rafale in terms of missiles and bombs it can carry; it may be shot down by the Rafale using its long combat radius and if equipped with long range AAMs. The EuroFighter on the other hand has the highest service ceiling as it can hover at 70,000 feet and use its look down radar to shoot down the other contenders which can reach not more than 60,000 feet. The EuroFighter comes with the same potent long range American missiles as the F-16 and therefore is a better challenger to the American fighter than the Rafale.

The Rafale on the other hand can deliver the maximum punch in the ground attack role and may need the support of Su-30MKI to counter the F-16s or the EuroFighters.

The Mig-29 is in the lower rung of this combat category mainly due to the lower configuration of its weapon loads. In close combat, it can still out maneuver the F-16 or even the Rafale so long as it is not shot down from longer ranges. Here also, the F-16 has more ammo than all the other competitors and close combat could be really close and depend greatly on the caliber of the pilots.

The final analysis is that for any Air Force when taking a decision on selecting the right combat aircraft is certainly as challenging as using them in real combat. The ideal combination would be as follows:

Two to Four Squadrons of F-35 or T-50 FGFA each with 20 combat aircrafts and 5 Training aircrafts. That is a total of 45 F-35 or 90 T-50 FGFA Stealth aircrafts to make the first strike and take out the enemy’s air defenses will cost $7Billion(F-35).

This will be followed by 5 squadrons of Rafale each equipped with 20 combat aircrafts and 10 additional Training versions totaling 110 Rafale combat aircrafts to vanquish the enemy by destroying airfields and defense infrastructure by delivering 10 tons of destruction by each aircraft costing $14 billion.

The Rafale will be supported by 10 squadrons of Su-30MKIs with a total of 250 combat aircrafts costing another $14 billion.

Finally once the Air Force has achieved air superiority, it can deploy 10 squadrons of LCA-Tejas MKII or MKIII totaling 250 Tejas of different versions costing in total $8 billion.

As the Indian Air force has already purchased the Su-30MKI combat aircrafts, it needs to for 2-4 squadrons (F-35/T-50) of stealth fighters, 5 squadrons of Rafale and 10 squadrons of LCA-Tejas costing not more than $30 billion over a 10-15 year period.

On the other hand, we are going ahead inking a deal for $20 billion or even more as also $25 billion T-50 deal and add to the cost of acquiring LCA-Tejas fighters taking the total spend to over $50 billion. That is an additional $20 billion over the actual requirement as shown earlier.

Instead of going for the $25 billion T-50 Russian project that may never satisfy our needs, it would be prudent to talk to the Americans and get 2 squadrons of the far more advanced F-35 which are available for purchase. Using these advanced aircrafts can help us develop a stealthy model of the LCA which anyways has American Engines and technology. This will cost less than the ever delayed T-50 project over the long term.

Once the stealthy version of the LCA is developed, we may be able to advance considerably as in the case of the missiles and space launch vehicles in developer even top line combat aircrafts in the future. Especially considering we are allowing 49% of FDI in defense and running the Make in India campaign so effectively. 

This will ensure we are not at the whims and fancies of external suppliers such as the US, France and Russia for our defense.

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Iron Birds of the INDIAN AIR FORCE

FIGHTER AIRCRAFT

HAL - TEJAS

Images: DRDO / HAL

INTRODUCTION

The history of military aviation indicates that light fighters have always been one of the most popular classes of aircraft. Generally lightweight fighters are significantly cheaper and less complex to build than their heavier counterparts. The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Tejas "Radiance" is a 4+ generation, multirole light fighter developed by India for both defensive and offensive purposes. India with its expanding economy and its growth in aerospace and other important military technological areas has become a very important and robust criterion to enable the country’s growth in the development of indigenous defense related products. With ample government support, this industry can grow both commercially and in the technology spectrum. The present NDA government seems determined to cut the policy paralysis, which was the hallmark of the previous UPA government lead by Prime Minister Dr. Singh & Defense Minister A K Antony. Another invigorating factor is that the Shri. Narendra Modi's Government supports 100% Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in the defense industry. This will augur well to augment the current state of affairs in this sector. Light Combat Aircraft-Tejas was envisaged to boost the indigenous aerospace capabilities. It has emerged as a sophisticated and significant piece of complex technological system that the country can be proud of. The main intention was to not only provide a launch base for aircraft production but also build upon local industry infrastructure capable of creating state-of-the-art products and services. 

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