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Pataliputra

Junior Member
Registered Member
Thanks, but there is a paywall ... so could you please post the relevant part as a screenshot?

View attachment 124108

I'm not sure how you come to 400 million per Rafale ... even more so the thre sumbarines are included in the same deal.
The submarines cost less than 3 billion USD, and I will share a more detailed article link about the Rafale Marines' price. My main point wasn't the specific cost of Rafales, whether 280, 380, or 410 million USD. Instead, I highlighted that India-specific Rafales are considerably more expensive than an F-35. Despite being 4th generation fighter jets, Rafales cost more than the 5th generation F-35. And, the Indian Air Force has not shown interest in purchasing F-35, even though it participated in the Bengaluru Airshow.
 

Deino

Lieutenant General
Staff member
Super Moderator
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The submarines cost less than 3 billion USD, and I will share a more detailed article link about the Rafale Marines' price. My main point wasn't the specific cost of Rafales, whether 280, 380, or 410 million USD. Instead, I highlighted that India-specific Rafales are considerably more expensive than an F-35. Despite being 4th generation fighter jets, Rafales cost more than the 5th generation F-35. And, the Indian Air Force has not shown interest in purchasing F-35, even though it participated in the Bengaluru Airshow.


No, again you are twisting things ! Again you portray it as if "Despite being 4th generation fighter jets, Rafales cost more than the 5th generation F-35", fact is however that this is not the case and only valid due to India's special request, the over-complicated system of acquisition and most of all since they demand special modifications to their naval Rafales, no-one else needs but as it seems India demands.

By the way, per my information, the deal isn't close to being ready since either the issue on where to store them! Suggestions per my information since the lifts on neither the Vikramaditya nor Vikrant are large enough is now to store them simply on deck, to put both carriers in the yard for years to cut thru the deck and install larger lifts or to ask for a modified Indian version with folding wings, which Dassault however refuses to pay on its own.

Again, this story is yet another prime example of how stupid the whole Indian acquisition program is structured - almost as stupid as in Germany - since the right hand rarely knows what the left hand does.
 
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Gloire_bb

Captain
Registered Member
And, the Indian Air Force has not shown interest in purchasing F-35, even though it participated in the Bengaluru Airshow.
(0)5th gen platforms aren't bound to cost more than 4th-generation ones. They're still made on a next technological level.
(1)no one proposed them to India in the first place. Rule of thumb to avoid embarrassment - don't ask for that will be denied. Indian proposal was F-16IN, later renamed F-21 to sound cool.
(2)Full Rafale capability was needed now, on an emergency basis. F-35 wasn't capable of providing the necessary capability, still isn't now, and apparently won't be until at least ~2028.
(3)Indian Rafale order was done early enough to actually get them. F-35 can't be ordered to get them anytime soon.
(4)MMRCA procurement specifically aimed at non-US, non-Russian options. Basically, it almost always was a competition between Typhoon and Rafale. Both are expensive as f.
 

Pataliputra

Junior Member
Registered Member
(0)5th gen platforms aren't bound to cost more than 4th-generation ones. They're still made on a next technological level.
(1)no one proposed them to India in the first place. Rule of thumb to avoid embarrassment - don't ask for that will be denied. Indian proposal was F-16IN, later renamed F-21 to sound cool.
(2)Full Rafale capability was needed now, on an emergency basis. F-35 wasn't capable of providing the necessary capability, still isn't now, and apparently won't be until at least ~2028.
(3)Indian Rafale order was done early enough to actually get them. F-35 can't be ordered to get them anytime soon.
(4)MMRCA procurement specifically aimed at non-US, non-Russian options. Basically, it almost always was a competition between Typhoon and Rafale. Both are expensive as f.
The MMRCA tender aimed at procuring 4th generation fighter jets, with India hesitant to buy from the USA due to the strong U.S.-Pakistan alliance. However, obtaining 30-40 F-35s is feasible for India, although their usage against Pakistan might be restricted by the U.S. The F-35 could still serve against China. An IAF Chief, in an official press conference, mentioned that the IAF can patiently await the indigenous fifth-generation fighter jet AMCA without the immediate need for importing a fifth-generation fighter.
 

Pataliputra

Junior Member
Registered Member
Lmaooo where's the F414 Gung Ho lololol


What makes it funnier is that they wrote it as if IAF has natural rights for F414
If the agreement for GE engines is already signed, India has the right to acquire them. Cancelling a signed agreement is something only a banana republic would do. If the USA was unwilling to provide the engines, they should not have entered into the contract initially. India could explore alternative engine sources or invest the resources in the ongoing development of indigenous Kaveri engine.
After a decade of rigorous negotiations, if the U.S. were to cancel this deal, India's trust in the USA for the supply of any military hardware would be severely compromised.
 

Biscuits

Major
Registered Member
If the agreement for GE engines is already signed, India has the right to acquire them. Cancelling a signed agreement is something only a banana republic would do.
You realized it now?
If the USA was unwilling to provide the engines, they should not have entered into the contract initially. India could explore alternative engine sources or invest the resources in the ongoing development of indigenous Kaveri engine.
After a decade of rigorous negotiations, if the U.S. were to cancel this deal, India's trust in the USA for the supply of any military hardware would be severely compromised.
Just build your own engine like any other regional power let alone global power does.
 

Gloire_bb

Captain
Registered Member
However, obtaining 30-40 F-35s is feasible for India, although their usage against Pakistan might be restricted by the U.S. The F-35 could still serve against China.
(1)they weren't proposed, at least.
(2)Yes, the fact that US meddles with the property you've got. The same is true for C-17, P-8, or Apaches.
(3)At least as how I understand Indian/Chinese pairs, against China India needs (1)counter air, (2)stand off strike, (3) anti-shipping platform. F-35 is acceptable at first role, and is as of 2024 (Rafale has been doing its job for several years already) is still not capable of 2 and 3.
It's just a bad deal.
 

gelgoog

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
Lmaooo where's the F414 Gung Ho lololol
...
What makes it funnier is that they wrote it as if IAF has natural rights for F414
This is hardly surprising. The same thing happened to the Russians with the Sukhoi Superjet 100 engines. They wanted to scale production of aircraft to over 20 a year and then they found out that Precision Castparts, which made the casted titanium parts for the hot core of the engine, wouldn't increase production unless they paid them a bundle more money. Which would have made production of the SaM-146 engine for SSJ-100 uncompetitive with other Western engines in the market. Precision Castparts is a US company owned by Warren Buffet and they basically seem to have a monopoly on such parts in the West. The hot section of the engine was supposedly made by French company Safran, but it used US components...

The Russians ended up having to make the PD-8 engine as a replacement for the SaM-146 because of this.
 
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