Arrival of 5 Rafale jets in India – Burning Issues – Free PDF Download

Why in News

• Five Dassault Rafale fighter jets landed at Ambala Air Force base on July 29.
• These are the first of 36 fighter jets, India agreed to purchase from France four years ago.
• There was understandable celebration among civilians and armed forces in India.

Two decades

• The celebratory mood, however, must not hide the dark reality of India’s inefficient defence procurement process.
•  The Indian Air Force, lurched by fleet depletion and aging aircrafts expressed its desire to procure 126 MMRCA in the year 2000.

Request for Information

•  The IAF projected a requirement for about 126 aircraft in 2001, when the strength was at 39.5 squadrons. These aircrafts would replace IAF’s frontline strike aircrafts like the MiG-27 and Jaguar, which would retire in 2015.

Dassault Rafale

• On 31 January 2012 Rafale was declared the winner of the MMRCA competition, beating Eurofighter Typhoon on cost.
•  The reasons given for selection included lower unit cost and lower overall lifecycle cost for the Rafale due to lower fuel consumption and simpler maintenance requirements

Su-30MKI an Alternative

• Disagreements over warranty for aircraft produced by HAL continued.
• Defence minister Manohar Parrikar said that the Sukhoi Su-30MKI could be acquired as an alternative to Rafale.
• Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha disagreed, saying that the Su-30MKI and Rafale had different capabilities.

36 Rafale in Ready Condition

•  In April 2015, Narendra Modi announced that India would acquire 36 fully built Rafales citing “critical operational necessity”.
•  In July 2015, Manohar Parrikar informed the Rajya Sabha that the tender for 126 aircraft had been withdrawn and negotiations for 36 aircraft had begun. The deliveries were to begin in 2019 and complete by 2022.

Aircrafts Already Retired

• India retired the last MiG-27ML squadron on 27 December 2019.
•  IAF announced that six Jaguar squadrons would retire in the 2020s.
• The last of six remaining MiG-21 squadrons will be retired in 2021 when their technical life ends.

22 Squadrons by 2032

• According to its own analysis India needs 42 squadrons of 18 fighter jets to defend against a two pronged attack from China and Pakistan.
•  Due to, retirement of ageing aircrafts and delays in procurement of new fighters, India could end up with only 22 squadrons by 2032.

Increased Cost of MMRCA

•  The cost of the program was projected at US $12 billion in 2007. In January 2014, the cost of the aircrafts escalated by 100% to no less than US$28–30 billion. As against the 126 aircraft, inter governmental deal to purchase only 36 Rafale is estimated to be worth $9.4bn.

Capabilities of Rafale

•  While India is celebrating the arrival of its Rafale jets, military experts questioned its capabilities
• They raised questions why the Rafale jets failed to compete in the international arms markets and got dumped by a majority of nations.
• Other than France and India, only Qatar and Egypt are using Rafale jets and that too in very limited numbers.

Capabilities of Rafale

• Russian aviation experts had claimed that Rafale jets would have been useless against the Chinese Air force (PLAAF). The maximum speed of the Rafale jet is about Mach 1.8 compared to Chinese J-16s at Mach 2.2. The Rafale’s practical ceiling is also lower than the J-16s.

Capabilities of Rafale

• Even in engine thrust, the Chinese J-16s aka Russian Su-35s are far superior to the French combat aircraft.
• Even if the Indian Air Force (IAF) was to deploy all 36 of its newly acquired jets.
• The technical superiority would still be on the side of China.

Mistake in Understanding Chinese Character

•  Delay in procurement is marked by the inability of India to read history correctly and to recognise India’s real enemy.
• Despite the obvious lessons New Delhi should have drawn from its defeat in 1962.
• It has largely privileged placating Beijing only to further fuel China’s untenable ambitions.

• After two decades, three Prime Ministers, four Governments the first five Rafale fighter jets finally landed in India on 29th July.
• The arrival of these jets should be a moment of sombre national introspection.
• India is unprepared for the ensuing decade that will witness a world in upheaval and where national security will demand a significant share of resources and human capital.

Latest Burning Issues | Free PDF

Sharing is caring!