“The LoR is ready and it is expected to be sent to France in a few weeks,” defence sources told TOI. The LoR is a formal government-to-government document used to initiate major defence acquisitions under international frameworks such as foreign military sales or intergovernmental agreements. The earlier estimate for the mega deal was pegged at around Rs 3.25 lakh crore.
Under the proposed agreement, nearly 90 of the 114 fighter jets are planned to be manufactured in India through a partnership between French aerospace company Dassault Aviation and an Indian firm under the Make-in-India initiative. The remaining 24 aircraft are expected to be delivered in fly-away condition from France. The indigenous content in the jets is expected to be nearly 50%.
IAF chief A P Singh is scheduled to visit France in early June, just ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the country from June 15 to 17 for the G7 Summit. Singh’s visit is expected to provide the final push to the mega deal. The final contract, likely to be signed by the end of this year, will come after price negotiations and approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).
Apart from the deal for 114 Rafale jets, the Indian Navy is separately procuring 26 Rafale Marine aircraft from Dassault Aviation for carrier operations. The agreement for this deal was signed on April 28 last year. The IAF already operates 36 Rafales acquired under the September 2016 intergovernmental agreement.
India’s Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) programme, under which 114 fighter jets are to be procured, aims to bridge the critical capability gap in the IAF and arrest the declining strength of its fighter squadrons, which has dropped to 29 from the ideal 42.5 squadrons required to effectively tackle a two-front threat from Pakistan and China.
At a time when Pakistan is moving ahead with plans to acquire 40 J-35 fifth-generation fighter jets, India is pushing Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to speed up deliveries of Tejas aircraft under the two existing contracts with the IAF. Earlier, defence secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh had said the government was hopeful HAL would deliver 10 Tejas Mk-1A fighter jets within the current financial year.With the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) expected to be ready and enter service only by 2035, the government’s immediate requirement for a stealth platform has once again brought Russia’s Sukhoi Su-57 into focus.
For the AMCA programme, the government has shortlisted three domestic private-sector contenders for prototype development and manufacturing: Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL), a consortium led by Larsen & Toubro (L&T), and another consortium led by Bharat Forge.
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