Manoj Ambat's Blog dealing with Defence, Foreign Affairs, Strategic Affairs and Politics

Rafale landing in USS Theodore Roosevelt ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ Matthew DeWitt) Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz Stefan-Gady Representatives of French aircraft maker Dassault Aviation are slated to meet with senior officials of the Indian Navy to pitch the naval version of the Dassault Rafale twin-engine, fourth generation multirole fighter this week, according to local media reports. The briefing is scheduled for January 29. Sources within India’s Defense Ministry said that New Delhi has asked four countries (France, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia) for proposals for the design of the country’s first 65,000-ton supercarrier, the INS Vishal, the second ship of the Vikrant-class. The INS Vishal will allegedly feature significant design changes from the lead vessel, the INS Vikrant, including possible nuclear propulsion and Catapult Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (CATOBAR) and Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch Systems (EMALS).

Dessault Rafale ( Source- Wikimedia Commons / Credits- Capt. Jaison Smith) Source- The Diplomat Author- Ankit Panda As my colleague Franz-Stefan Gady reported earlier, India’s request-for-proposal (RFP) for 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft has been, as was expected, formally withdrawn. Following Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement in Paris earlier this year that New Delhi would opt to purchase 36 Dassault Rafale fighters off-the-shelf, it was only a matter of time before we received confirmation from the Indian Defense Ministry of the MMRCA’s demise. The government-to-government deal left little hope that long-standing disastrous negotiation process between France’s Dassault Aviation and the Indian defense ministry would go on. As I commented at the time, the “mother of all defense deals,” as India’s MMRCA tender was known, was effectively dead. What’s interesting at this juncture is what New Delhi plans to do to meet the Indian Air Force’s outsta

Dassault Rafale ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- United States Air Force by Capt Jason Smith)  Source- The Diplomat Author- Ankit Panda With Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s big announcement in Paris that New Delhi would purchase 36 Dassault Rafale multi-role fighters off-the-shelf (prêt-à-porter, if you will) in a government-to-government deal, the future of the $20 billion tender for India’s medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) that was being negotiated between France’s Dassault Aviation and the Indian government fell into limbo. That ambiguity was resolved on Monday, three days after Modi’s announcement, when Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar clarified that the $20 billion tender would not move forward. Just like that, the “mother of all defense deals,” as India’s MMRCA project was known, was dead. Though Parrikar avoided shutting the door on the project entirely, he emphasized that the Indian government would not move forward with thos

Rafale ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ Airwolfhound) Source- The Diplomat Author- Ankit Panda Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar hosted his French counterpart in New Delhi earlier this week. The two ministers agreed to put the issue of concluding a deal on India’s acquisition of 126 French Rafale fighter jets on a “fast track.” The deal is expected to cost India upwards of $15 billion and will fulfill India’s Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contract which was awarded to France’s Dassault Aviation for the Rafale fighter in 2011 over several other bidders. Parrikar and French Defense Minister Yves Le Drian agreed to accelerate negotiations after over two years of delays. Le Drian described his meeting with Parrikar as “positive.” “All issues related to defense were discussed, including the Rafale,” Indian defense ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar said. “Both sides decided to adopt a fast-track approach wherever there are differences.” “We can say this

India’s biggest deal of procuring 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) for $18 billion (Rs90,000 crore) has hit rough weather. Two years after French aircraft maker Dassault Aviation bagged the deal for its Rafale fighter jets on account of being the lowest bidder, its cost has now shot up by 100 per cent. .......................... http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report-dna-exclusive-100pct-price-escalation-on-rafale-fighter-aircraft-to-rs-1-75-lakh-crore-likely-to-dent-iaf-s-strike-capability-1957107