New Delhi: India is likely to begin negotiations with France for a government-to-government (G2G) deal for 114 Multi Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) with local manufacturing to bolster the air force’s depleting strength, ThePrint has learnt.
Sources in the defence and security establishment told ThePrint that the MRFA deal will entail Rafale fighter aircraft, 36 of which were bought by the Modi government in 2016.
The deal will involve French firm Dassault Aviation setting up a final assembly line in India in partnership with a leading defence industry player with experience in the aviation sector, they said, adding that it would involve some aircraft coming in flying away condition and the rest being manufactured locally with large scale sourcing of components and parts from multiple Indian companies.
On its part, Dassault Aviation has always made it clear that there should be a minimum order of 100 aircraft for it to set up a plant in India.
The development came in the backdrop of the Prime Minister-led Cabinet Committee on Security clearing the €7 billion deal for 26 Rafale Marine fighters.
As reported by ThePrint in February, the deal will be signed during the visit of French Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu. No dates have been fixed yet and it will be finalised soon, according to the sources.
Asked if India will now take up the MRFA deal, a source said that it is aware of the lack of fighter strength in the IAF. “This will be a single vendor. We have already bought 36 Rafale and will begin negotiations for the MRFA with the French once certain formalities are completed. This will be a government-to-government deal,” the source said, to a query on a formal competition for the MRFA contract.
Both sides, the source said, have discussed the MRFA programme at multiple levels and an understanding has been reached.
The Indian Air Force (IAF), which is down to 31 squadrons of fighters as against a sanctioned 42.5, has been pressing for an urgent need to bolster its inventory.
In February, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh had said that his force was in dire need of 35-40 aircraft a year and is far behind in technology. India must explore collaborative projects between foreign firms and Indian private players to produce fighter aircraft domestically, supplementing the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s (HAL) production of the Tejas Mk-1A, he emphasized.
(Edited by Tony Rai)