Rafale DH/EH of Indian Air Force : News and Discussions

They just want a last shot at India's market. Both MKI and Su-35 are unrealistic. If they have any realistic chance, it will be with the Mig-35.



It's obvious they will offer the Super MKI configuration with the Su-35.

More MKI, More Rafale is the realistic option which IAF wants. Rest all is politics and will yeild no results.
 
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Mother of all defence deals’ set for govt nod amid Rafale sp ..

NEW DELHI: The government is getting set to grant initial approval to the long-drawn acquisition project for 114 new fighter jets for over $20 billion (Rs 1.4 lakh crore), with a seventh contender flying into the competition amid the political dogfight between BJP and Congress over the Rs 59,000 crore contract for 36 French Rafale jets.

Defence ministry sources said the Defence Acquisitions Council, chaired by minister Nirmala Sitharaman, is likely to consider ‘acceptance of necessity (AoN)’ for the 114-jet project deal later this month or early next month.

Under the project, while the first 18 jets will come in a ‘flyaway condition’ in three to five years after the contract is inked, the rest will be produced in India under the new ‘strategic partnership (SP)’ policy in a joint venture between the selected foreign aviation major and its Indian partner.

Interestingly, the Russian Sukhoi-35 has joined the race for India’s ‘mother of all defence deals’ by submitting its bid to the preliminary tender or request for information issued by IAF in April. This comes after the first six contenders — F/A-18 and F-16 (US), Gripen-E (Sweden), MiG-35 (Russia), Eurofighter Typhoon and Rafale — sent their bids in early July.

But it will take at least four to five years for the actual contract to be inked with the selected foreign original equipment manufacturer (OEM)-Indian partner combine. It’s estimated each barebones fighter will cost around $100 million, with another $100 million for ‘add-ons’.

Though IAF would like the entire process fast-tracked, to be ready to tackle the “collusive threat” from China and Pakistan, the still untried SP model involves quite a complex process.

While an Indian company will be selected as the strategic partner, the OEM will be chosen in a separate but parallel process. “Once the AoN is granted to the 114-jet project, the seven contenders will be given three months to respond to the EoI (expression of interest) to take things forward,” said a source.

Amid all this, some MoD insiders contend it would make “far better economical and logistical sense” to simply go in for more Rafales through a government-to-government deal, after the first 36 jets arrive in the 2019-2022 timeframe, but it has become a hot potato in the current political scenario.
Read more at:
‘Mother of all defence deals’ set for govt nod amid Rafale spat - Times of India
India is trolling big time. Except for Rafales no other fighter will get through. Russia has it's hands full with 40 more su30mkis and super Sukhoi upgrades and pakfa in future. France have Rafales which will keep coming. Rest are being trolled by India so that they don't do something foolish like SAAB offering Gripen to Pakistan or uncle Sam coming up with idiotic sanctions. Also India demanding technologies with every tranche of Rafales and French obliging seeing contenders in line to supply their fighters..

An old hindi saying fits this situation. INDIA KE DONO HATH GHEE MAIN AUR MOOH KADAAI MAIN....😁😁😁😁
 
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4 or 5 years to ink contract? Omgz ,are you actually selecting a plane or a selection process?

We are still deciding on the selection process. :D

Our procurement process is a joke. But then our requirements are such that we need such lengthy amount of time to discuss what we want.

The 4-5 years is just media speculation, based on how long MMRCA took. In this case, since most of the tech evals are already complete, we may not have to go through the entire process again. So the technical shortlist will be faster than MMRCA's 4 years, but choosing L1 will take as much as a year, similar to MMRCA.
 
We are still deciding on the selection process. :D

Our procurement process is a joke. But then our requirements are such that we need such lengthy amount of time to discuss what we want.

The 4-5 years is just media speculation, based on how long MMRCA took. In this case, since most of the tech evals are already complete, we may not have to go through the entire process again. So the technical shortlist will be faster than MMRCA's 4 years, but choosing L1 will take as much as a year, similar to MMRCA.
Without field test, it could be faster, no?
 
First Rafale for India being flight-tested in France, only one will arrive custom-made

As the Rafale deal continues to be at the centre of a political maelstrom, The Indian Express has learnt that only one of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft will be supplied from France to India until the end of the contract period in April 2022 with India-Specific Enhancements.

The balance 35 aircraft will start being delivered to India beginning September 2019 but they will be incorporated with these enhancements in India itself after the contract period at the rate of seven aircraft per month.


In a reply given in Rajya Sabha in July, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that the “delivery of 36 Rafale aircraft in a fly-away condition along with associated equipment and weapons will commence from September 2019 and will be completed by April 2022.”

However, it will be only in September 2022 that the full complement of 36 Rafale aircraft will be available with IAF with the India-Specific Enhancements in place.

Government sources have often claimed that by negotiating a deal where the supply of 36 French jets would be completed by April 2022, it has saved five months off the UPA-era negotiations to meet the urgent operational requirements of the IAF.

Sources said one of the 36 Rafale aircraft to be supplied to India had commenced test-flying in France last month. India-Specific Enhancements are being flight-tested on this fighter jet, sources added, which is a two-seater Rafale aircraft (RB008).

The testing of this aircraft will continue until April 2022, sources said, when it will be ready to be delivered to India.

Indian Air Force (IAF) and French pilots are jointly undertaking the testing of this aircraft which will lead to certification of India-Specific Enhancements. An IAF team of four officers has been in France since August 2017 for testing India-Specific Enhancements and monitoring the production of 36 Rafale aircraft.

Questions sent by The Indian Express to the Ministry of Defence, an Indian Air Force spokesperson and a spokesperson for Dassault Aviation went unanswered.

“The flight test and certification of the India-Specific Enhancements on one Rafale will be complete within 67 months (until April 2022) of signing of the contract. All the aircraft cannot be equipped with India-Specific Enhancements unless the flight test is complete and the aircraft is certified to the new capabilities. This is the reason the last aircraft to be delivered is the first to be manufactured,” sources told The Indian Express.

“By the time the first Rafale is certified with India-Specific Enhancements, 35 Rafale aircraft would have already been delivered to India. The 35 aircraft would be modified in India in the next five months. This is a simple plug-and-play process,” sources said.

As per the requirements given by the IAF for the 126-aircraft MMRCA deal during the UPA government, there are 13 India-Specific Enhancements demanded by India. These include radar enhancement, Helmet Mounted Display, towed decoy system, Low band jammer, radio altimeter and ability to start and operate from High Altitude Airfields.

These additional capabilities are not present in Rafale aircraft in service with the French Air Force. When the BJP government signed an inter-government agreement for 36 Rafale aircraft in 2016, it did not make any changes to the list of India-Specific Enhancements.

Meanwhile, sources said, four of the balance 35 Rafale fighter aircraft will be in the production line at Dassault’s plant in Bordeaux at the beginning of next year. This, sources said, is as per schedule and will lead to delivery of the first French fighter jet to IAF in September 2019. The last Rafale would join the IAF from France by April 2022.


Blame HAL or what ?
 
First Rafale for India being flight-tested in France, only one will arrive custom-made
Makes sense, certifications take time and the IAF likely didn't want the fighter deliveries to be delayed; I presume they preferred to receive the aircraft as soon as possible even if in what's basically the French standard, and get them upgraded after delivery once the Indian standard is fully certified. This kind of things is covered by the contract details, to which the general public isn't privy to. I see no reason to assume this isn't the solution chosen by India.

Inversely, Qatar preferred the opposite solution, and will keep their aircraft and their personnel in France until their customizations are certified and integrated and the aircraft can be delivered all at once. Again, it's a solution that makes sense to them, with their context which is different from India's, and so it's what they asked for in the terms of their contract.
 
when India decided to cancel MMRCA, why did we not consider the unsolicited offer of 20% reduction in price of Typhoon? Today the latest standard Typhoon has nearly 80% of the equipment as standard fit for which we are paying France thru our nose.
 
when India decided to cancel MMRCA, why did we not consider the unsolicited offer of 20% reduction in price of Typhoon?

Because it's illegal. And Typhoon's discount was unrealistic. And even with the discount, it was still more expensive.

Today the latest standard Typhoon has nearly 80% of the equipment as standard fit for which we are paying France thru our nose.

The Typhoon is still more expensive than the Rafale GTG. The base price was $124M versus Rafale's $85M when MMRCA bids were opened in 2011.
 
when India decided to cancel MMRCA, why did we not consider the unsolicited offer of 20% reduction in price of Typhoon? Today the latest standard Typhoon has nearly 80% of the equipment as standard fit for which we are paying France thru our nose.
I think they don't have AESA.
 
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Why the 36 Rafale meant for India are the most potent in the world


By Snehesh Alex Philip

21 hours ago

HACK

  • A lot has been written and spoken about the 7.878 Billion Euros deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets that can even fire strategic weapons.
  • Keeping politics apart, the fact is that the IAF desperately needs fighters as it stares at a bleak future.
  • The 36 Rafale fighter jets are not sufficient and the IAF will need much more of the MMRCA and lightweight kind to keep its upper hand over Pakistan and to be prepared for a two-front war.
A lot has been written and spoken about the 7.878 Billion Euros deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets that can even fire strategic weapons. It has been drawn into a political slugfest with both opposition, led by Congress and the ruling NDA government led by BJP indulging in a war of words almost every day.

In between all this, the IAF had been maintaining a steady silence. However, it chose to break its silence this week and surprisingly swayed into the controversy. So even while the government said the 36 Rafale fighters were 9 and 20 percent cheaper than UPA deal (something which never saw the light of the day), a senior IAF officer came up with the figure of it being 40 percent cheaper.

Since a lot has been speculated about the pricing, here is the break up:
The 'vanilla price' (just the aircraft alone) will cost about 91 million Euros each for a single seater and about 94 million Euros for a two-seater trainer aircraft which works out to be about 3.42 billion Euros. The armaments cost about 710 million Euros while Indian specific changes, including integration of Israeli helmet-mounted displays, will cost 1,700 million Euros. Associate supplies for the 36 fighter jets will cost about 1,800 million Euros while performance-based logistics will cost about 353 million Euros.​
Keeping politics apart, the fact is that the IAF desperately needs fighters as it stares at a bleak future. The 36 Rafale fighter jets are not sufficient and the IAF will need much more of the MMRCA and lightweight kind to keep its upper hand over Pakistan and to be prepared for a two-front war.

The 36 Rafale fighter jets being procured by India is the most potent Rafale to be manufactured ever. Yes, that is true. Even the French Air Force will have to wait before it gets its hand on a similar configuration.

The Indian Rafale comes with 13 India specific enhancements and includes Israeli helmet-mounted displays, ability to start at cold bases like Leh, better radar, better detection and survival features among others.

The hottest item on the Rafale will be the Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Meteor air-to-air missile with a range in excess of 150 km that will change the air to air combat dynamics in this region. Even the French Air Force do not have this missile because this is not in operation.

Its integration on the Rafale jets will mean IAF can hit targets inside both Pakistan and across the northern and eastern borders while staying within India's territorial boundary. Pakistan at present has only a BVR with 80 km range.

During the Kargil war, India had used a BVR of 50 km range while Pakistan had none. However, Pakistan later acquired 80-km-range BVR, but now with 'Meteor', the balance of power in the airspace has again tilted in India's favour.

Another important missile is the tried and tested 'Scalp', a long-range air-to-ground cruise missile with a range in excess of 300 km. Both missiles have a 2 metres precision which means that a target can be hit with high precision.

The French will also help India deploy the in-development BrahMos NG missile in either a twin or single weapon load-out when the system is ready from 2021.

The Indian Rafale will also come equipped with SPECTRA electronic warfare system, billed as the ‘cornerstone of the Rafale’s outstanding survivability against the latest airborne and ground threats’.

Another first for India will be the RBE 2 AESA radar on the Rafale, IAF’s first default active electronically scanned array combat radar on an Indian fighter jet.

Sources say that the Rafale offered in 2015 is much different from the one offered in 2007 since a lot of changes has taken place in the last one decade.​
They say that the Indian Rafale will be a modified version of the F3R standard. The F3R Rafale is centered around integration of the Meteor, the Thales TALIOS laser designator pod and the laser homing version of Sagem’s AASM Hammer air-to-surface munition.

However, the IAF has chosen to integrate the Israeli litening pod on the Rafale for sensor commonality across platforms as it had in 2016 ordered 164 of them for its Su-30 and MiG-29 fleet. However, IAF has ‘optioned’ the TALIOS pod for a possible future integration.

Similarly, IAF has optioned the AASM Hammer System for a possible induction once Rafale deliveries begin which will be fitted with Israeli Spice guidance kits. Dassault will have to ensure that at least 75 percent of the entire fleet remains operational at any given time. This warranty is signed for the first five years.

Three other concessions include free training for 10 IAF personnel, including three pilots besides additional guarantee for 60 hours of usage of training aircraft for Indian pilots and six months of free weapons storage without charge (in case the Indian infrastructure is not ready for storing the weapons).
 
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