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France may offer Rafale for Mirage
Chirac Visit Contract still 3-4 years away, Paris can’t keep factories idling
SHIV AROOR
Posted online: Thursday, February 16, 2006 at 0000 hours IST
NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 15: When French President Jacques Chirac arrives in New Delhi on February 19, he will make it a point to tell Indian authorities about the formal withdrawal of the Mirage-2000-5 fighter from the bid for 126 combat aircraft that the IAF is looking at. In its place, he will formally offer the Rafale multirole fighter.
In what has taken the IAF completely by surprise, considering it has unofficially been gunning for the Mirage, the French government has conveyed its intention to shortly pull the Mirage family of fighters off all production lines at contractor Dassault’s facilities to make way for the full-rate production of the new-generation Rafale.
Considering it would take at least three-four years for a contract to actually be signed with India, Paris thinks it would be too expensive to keep the Mirage factories humming. The Rafale, it feels, would be a more a suitable contender: it is much more capable, though considerably costlier.
France’s plans may have been simmering since June last year when IAF chief Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi was given the opportunity to take a spin in a Rafale C-variant twin-seater at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget. Even Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash flew in a Rafale-M carrier variant when he was Western Naval commander early in 2004.
The French President had made it a point to visit the HAL pavilion at the Paris Air Show last June. France’s offer, like the other countries contending for the massive deal, would include the licensed manufacture of Rafales at HAL’s facilities.
Considering the IAF’s fears about adding yet another fighter type to its already swollen inventory—the reason why it wants already operational Mirage variants—the defence delegation accompanying Chirac, led by Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, will tell South Block that upgrading infrastructure for the Rafale will not be an expensive proposition since it takes much from the Mirage family itself.
The decision to disengage the Mirage-2000-5 from participation in the IAF’s upcoming tender may have also had something to do with Washington’s unilateral offer of the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, before which Paris considered the Mirage-2000-5 a worthy opponent to the American F-16 Fighting Falcon. The perception was that matching the old Mirage family against the relatively new Super Hornet would give the Americans the technological edge in the contract and subsequent trial tests.
Source:
Russia, India designing interceptor fighter
VISAKHAPATNAM: Russia and India were designing a unique interceptor fighter of the fifth generation, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation, Vyacheslav I. Trubnikov, said in an exclusive interview to The Hindu on Tuesday.
The Russian ambassador was here on an invitation from the Navy to witness the President's Fleet Review (PFR) from February 11 to 13. Describing President A.P.J. Kalam as the "Father" of the Brahmos missile, he said India and Russia had now reached an agreement for designing, producing and also marketing the product. "It is a brilliant example of international cooperation. Starting from design, it is something new. It goes beyond the relationship of a buyer and seller. It is a mutual effort everywhere," he said.
Source:
Chirac Visit Contract still 3-4 years away, Paris can’t keep factories idling
SHIV AROOR
Posted online: Thursday, February 16, 2006 at 0000 hours IST
NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 15: When French President Jacques Chirac arrives in New Delhi on February 19, he will make it a point to tell Indian authorities about the formal withdrawal of the Mirage-2000-5 fighter from the bid for 126 combat aircraft that the IAF is looking at. In its place, he will formally offer the Rafale multirole fighter.
In what has taken the IAF completely by surprise, considering it has unofficially been gunning for the Mirage, the French government has conveyed its intention to shortly pull the Mirage family of fighters off all production lines at contractor Dassault’s facilities to make way for the full-rate production of the new-generation Rafale.
Considering it would take at least three-four years for a contract to actually be signed with India, Paris thinks it would be too expensive to keep the Mirage factories humming. The Rafale, it feels, would be a more a suitable contender: it is much more capable, though considerably costlier.
France’s plans may have been simmering since June last year when IAF chief Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi was given the opportunity to take a spin in a Rafale C-variant twin-seater at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget. Even Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash flew in a Rafale-M carrier variant when he was Western Naval commander early in 2004.
The French President had made it a point to visit the HAL pavilion at the Paris Air Show last June. France’s offer, like the other countries contending for the massive deal, would include the licensed manufacture of Rafales at HAL’s facilities.
Considering the IAF’s fears about adding yet another fighter type to its already swollen inventory—the reason why it wants already operational Mirage variants—the defence delegation accompanying Chirac, led by Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, will tell South Block that upgrading infrastructure for the Rafale will not be an expensive proposition since it takes much from the Mirage family itself.
The decision to disengage the Mirage-2000-5 from participation in the IAF’s upcoming tender may have also had something to do with Washington’s unilateral offer of the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, before which Paris considered the Mirage-2000-5 a worthy opponent to the American F-16 Fighting Falcon. The perception was that matching the old Mirage family against the relatively new Super Hornet would give the Americans the technological edge in the contract and subsequent trial tests.
Source:
Russia, India designing interceptor fighter
VISAKHAPATNAM: Russia and India were designing a unique interceptor fighter of the fifth generation, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation, Vyacheslav I. Trubnikov, said in an exclusive interview to The Hindu on Tuesday.
The Russian ambassador was here on an invitation from the Navy to witness the President's Fleet Review (PFR) from February 11 to 13. Describing President A.P.J. Kalam as the "Father" of the Brahmos missile, he said India and Russia had now reached an agreement for designing, producing and also marketing the product. "It is a brilliant example of international cooperation. Starting from design, it is something new. It goes beyond the relationship of a buyer and seller. It is a mutual effort everywhere," he said.
Source:
