As controversy rages over the Rs 59,000-crore Rafale deal, IAF Chief BS Dhanoa on Wednesday termed the induction of the fighter jets as a “game changer in the subcontinent and said along with the S-400 Triumf missile defence system, it will act as a “booster dose.” Russia and India are likely to ink the nearly five billion dollar deal for five S-400 systems during President Vladimir Putin’s visit to New Delhi later this week. Dhanoa also said the cost of the aircraft arrived at after negotiations was “reasonable and adequate.”
Defending the Government-to-Government deal with France for 36 Rafale jets, the Air Chief also asserted that the IAF was consulted at the “appropriate level.” This came in the backdrop of allegations that the IAF was not in the loop before the deal was announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Paris in 2015. The Air Chief also lamented delays in delivery schedules of some frontline fighter jets by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited(HAL).
Fielding a host of questions of over the Rafale deal during the annual news conference ahead of the Air Force Day on October 8, Dhanoa said the IAF had given options to the Government to address the issue of bolstering the dwindling fighter jet squadron strength of the force.
Giving the background, the Air Chief said the earlier proposed deal for buying 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft(MMRCA) had reached an “impasse” in negotiations due to differences between HAL and Dassault, manufacturer of Rafale, over issues like price, man hours and as to who will be responsible for 108 jets to be manufactured by HAL in India.
The IAF had three choices. They included either to wait for the ongoing negotiations and hope for the best or withdraw the Request for Proposal(RFP) or go in for emergency purchase of two squadrons, he said adding the government took the “bold step”by going with the last option. The Air Chief also said issuing fresh tenders would have delayed the acquisition process of modern fighter jets by another five to seven years.
Claiming that the Rafale deal was a “good package” and the aircraft will be a “game-changer” in the subcontinent, he said adding “we got a lot of advantages in Rafale deal.” The jet comes with modern sensors, latest electronic warfare systems and India specific enhancements, he said.
Refraining to put a figure to the cost of each aircraft, he said Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had given the amount and “we stick to same figures.” Bhamre had mentioned in a reply in Parliament in 2016 that the price of each Rafale is Rs 670 crores while Jaitley said recently the NDA deal was nine per cent cheaper than the negotiated price by the previous regime.
Besides charging the present Government with buying Rafales at a very high price than negotiated by it, Congress is also accusing the government of benefitting Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence Ltd from the Rafale deal. The BJP has dismissed all the allegations as false.
Asked about this issue, Dhanoa said he cannot “comment” on the partnership adding as per offsets clause of Defence Procurement Policy(DPP), the original equipment manufacturer(OEM) chooses his Indian partner. In this case Dassault opted for Reliance and when former French president Francois Hollande’s claims came out the French aerospace conglomerate said it chose Reliance.
Justifying the decision to buy 36 jets, the IAF chief in the past too India had gone in for such a step to meet operational requirements.
On question marks about the capabilities of the HAL to build latest generation aircraft, Dhanoa said he was grateful to HAL for support to the IAF. However, he flagged concern over delay in delivery schedules of ongoing projects including six year time overrun for Jaguars, three years for SU-30, two years for Mirage-2000 and five years in case of indigenously developed Tejas light combat aircraft(LCA).