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Bonjour Rafale! French Dassault Fighters ‘Inch Closer’ To Winning Indian MRFA Fighter Jet Deal – Experts

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is reportedly planning to halve its fighter jet procurement program, reducing the number of warplanes to 57 from 114.

According to reports, the anticipated $20 billion Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) program will most likely be carried out under the Indian government’s ‘Buy Global Make in India’ initiatives.

With the transfer of technology by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to an Indian company, all of the 57 warplanes will be built in India. The report revealed that a global tender for the procurement of 57 jets would be issued before 2022-end.

In 2018, the IAF had issued a Request for Information (RFI) for 114 fighters.  The IAF received responses from seven defense companies, including Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Dassault, Saab, Sukhoi, and MiG.

US defense firm Lockheed Martin has been marketing its India-specific F-21 aircraft, while Boeing is pitching its F-15EX & F/A-18 Super Hornet. Also in the fray were Dassault’s Rafale fighters, Saab’s Gripen, the European consortium’s Eurofighter Typhoon, and Russian Sukhoi’s S-35 and MiG-35.

The Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft program was expected to boost IAF’s fighter squadron strength. The ideal squadron size for the IAF is 42, but it currently has around 32 squadrons.

However, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari has previously stated that the ideal squadron figure is unattainable in the “foreseeable future.”




Rafale
Rafale Fighter Via Dassault Aviation

On a similar note, Air Marshal P.K Barbora (retd) told the EurAsian Times, “We have got about 32 plus-minus one squadron always and to build up to figures which are floating around from 13 and a half squadrons to 42 to 44 squadrons, we don’t know what it is correct or not, but the fact is that we have to have an Air Force, which can look after two fronts. (sic)”

It is no secret that India’s track record in acquiring a foreign fighter jet through global competition is dismal. The 126-fighter Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) program, which was the predecessor of MFRA, was shelved in 2015 after a decade-long procurement process that saw Dassault’s Rafale emerge victorious but failed to get a contract.

Following that, the government struck another contract with the French defense firm Dassault Aviation in 2016 to purchase 36 Rafale aircraft in fly-away condition. 

The IAF’s concern about maintaining minimum force levels stems from the inevitable retirement of its aging jet fleets, which include the Mirage-2000, MiG-29, and Jaguars, over the next decade. By 2024, the MiG-21’s remaining squadrons will be retired. 

Air Marshal Barbora argues that companies like Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, GE, and others who make fighter aircraft rarely exceed 18-20 aircraft per year, citing the lengthy process involved in producing a plane.

“So even if the IAF were to get the government’s financial grant for its full aircraft requirements, I’m sorry, I don’t think they’ll come before 2040-2050 when aircraft like the Mirage 2000 and Jaguar in IAF’s arsenal will be retired. So what we require is a high-tech aircraft, which has the potential of swing roll with good payload, good endurance, and of course, good technology. Good technology means weapon aiming is one of them. The other is, survivability,” he said.

Meanwhile, the service has made some efforts to mitigate the ongoing challenges. The two squadrons of recently acquired French Rafales are currently operational. In addition, India has placed an order for 83 LCA Mk 1A fighters, with deliveries beginning in 2024. 

The service is expecting the LCA Mk-2 and AMCA (the fifth-gen aircraft that India is developing) to be ready in a decade.

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