Rafale Fighters' deal

Kashmir Times. Dated: 9/25/2016 11:45:37 PM

Parrikar at present is defending the indefensible on this deal with French Company when there is no sovereign guarantee at higher prices

In the acquisition of 36 Rafale fighters' from France, the Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar appears to have been dragged into the entire episode and proved himself incorrect after 17 months of pledges he made while defending the deal. It is sad state of affairs that he has been forced to defend the deal since April 2015, when he was surprised by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the agreement he wanted to announce during his visit and meeting with French President Francois Hollande. The signing up of the agreement between the two countries has already added to the discomfort of the minister and his ministry because of many reason which do not prove that the much hyped acquisition will meet the parameters set by India may years back for this purpose. His announcements on Rafale Fighters that the jets will be joining the Indian Air Force (IAF) within two years but the agreements says something else and it will be more than 6 years when the final plane will joining the IAF fleet. The much touted defense that Euro 7.8 billion payment for 36 Rafale Fighters would be far lower than the negotiated terms and conditions of previous UPA government with the same party has fallen flat and in fact India will end up paying more Rs 1600 Crores for each aircraft while the prices negotiated previously appeared much lower. In fact, the manner in which the deal has been negotiated and cleared during the past 17 months, Parrikar has become the face of Rafale instead of the Indian Defense Ministry and losing precious resources of scarce resources of state exchequer. In fact, the discomfiture in the Ministry of Defense has already started with the worries about questions how will it explain the deal when constitutional authorities including Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) begin scrutiny. In April 2015, Parrikar stated that Rafale's bid for 126 fighters will become a purchase of about Rs 90,000 crore working out about Rs 715 crore per aircraft after adding all costs. But now the deal has been clinched for Rs 58,000 crore for 36 Rafale fighters which will be Rs 1600 crore per aircraft almost more than double the cost of earlier prices negotiated with the French Company. It has been pointed out earlier also that India can purchase at least two and half Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircrafts from Russia with the same capacity and similar roles compared to one Rafale fighter plane.
Apart from these pitfalls in the Rafale deal, those ruling the roost in the corridors of power also know that this agreement is already far below the expectations of the IAF experts, who are in a hurry to replace the aging MiG aircrafts. In fact the agreement with Russia to develop a fifth generation aircraft jointly for replacing the existing fleets and also take into consideration the future requirements would not require acquisition of Rafale type aircrafts. In fact the fifth generation aircrafts would have been much superior to what Indian MOD is looking forward to acquire from the foreign firms with and without sovereign guarantees from the government of those countries. Like in US, the government stands as a guarantor for the deals to be finalized between the two countries for any such purchase and with constitutions of a special team of both the parties. Similarly, in this case, the deal is directly with a private firm of France Rafale and there is sovereign guarantee. In case of Russia, the government is fully involved and it stands as guarantors for the next full term of the agreement as has been the case in the past when IAF got MiG series aircrafts and their upgrades from time to time. At present India needs about 200 to 300 fighters to replace the MiG-21 and MiG-27 fleet that is being phased out of service and 36 Rafales provide little cover and IAF hopes to but just 18 more under the options provided in the agreement but perhaps another lot later. The piecemeal contracting at this stage provides little leverage for beating down the prices and the needs of the entire force. If MoD enters into another agreement with US or any other country, how will it explain the previous deal. Only time will tell how and why Parrikar has struck this deal and defended the indefensible.

 

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