New Delhi: Even as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is set to visit France in the coming week, Eric Trappier, chairman and CEO of the French firm Dassault Aviation, is visiting India as negotiations for the Rafale Marine to arm the Indian Navy take centre stage, ThePrint has learnt.
Sources in the defence establishment said Trappier, accompanied by Richard Lavaud, head of military aircraft sales at Dassault Aviation, will be in New Delhi on 9 and 10 October for senior-level meetings. They are likely to meet senior officials in PMO, defence ministry, external affairs ministry, besides Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane, Navy chief Admiral R. Hari Kumar and IAF chief Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhari.
Incidentally, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will visit Italy and France from October 9 to 12. During the first leg of his two-nation visit, he is scheduled to meet Italian Defence Minister Guido Crisetto in Rome. In the final leg, he will conduct the 5th Annual Defence Dialogue with his counterpart, French Minister of Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu, in Paris.
In both the countries, Singh will also interact with defence industry CEOs and senior representatives to discuss potential opportunities for industrial cooperation, a statement by the defence ministry said.
Meanwhile, Trappier’s visit, coming after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to France in July this year where he was the chief guest for the Bastille Day Parade, assumes significance since India has decided to procure 26 Rafale Marine aircraft for the Indian Navy’s second aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant.
According to the plan, the Navy will procure 22 single-seat Rafale M and four trainer aircraft.
The deal will be a government-to-government contract and follows up on a similar procurement done in 2016 for 36 Rafale fighter jets for the Indian Air Force.
The IAF bought 36 aircraft in fly-away condition for about Rs 60,000 crore, resulting in per aircraft cost of Rs 1,600 crore. The base cost of the aircraft was close to only Rs 800 crore, the rest being for India specific enhancements, training, simulators and spares.
Sources said cost will be a key factor in the negotiations and the attempt is to keep it as low as possible, given that there is commonality between the two variants, except for certain changes to the naval version. India and France, sources added, have come up with different figures for the deal and the aim is to come to a figure agreeable to both sides.
The Navy had chosen the Rafale M over the American fighter, the F/A-18 Super Hornet, as reported first by ThePrint last December.
The new contract for procurement of 26 aircraft is meant to be an interim arrangement, given that India is building its indigenous Twin Engine Deck-Based Fighter (TEDBF) — a prototype is likely by 2026-27, followed by beginning of production around 2032.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)