Aero India 2019: The Rafale fighter jet is a twin-engine Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft. As three Rafale fighter jets were displayed at the mega Aero India show in Bengaluru today amid a huge political controversy, the French envoy to India rejected allegations of corruption in the multi-billion dollar fighter jet deal with India. The ambassador said the "very good" aircraft is expected to join the Indian Air Force within six months. "I do not see any scandal. What I see is a very good aircraft which has been purchased by Government of India. The aircraft will probably come here (Bengaluru) first and will join the Indian Air Force within six months," French ambassador Alexandre Ziegler told news agency ANI on the sidelines of Aero India in Bengaluru. The Congress alleges that the government went for an overpriced deal for Rafale jets to benefit industrialist Anil Ambani, whose Reliance Defence is one of the offset partners for Rafale maker Dassault. Both Dassault and Anil Ambani have denied the Congress allegations. French ambassador Alexandre Ziegler the Rafale aircraft for the air force will first land in Bengaluru. India had signed a deal for France in 2016 for for 36 Rafale fighter jets. At the air show, the Rafale aircraft was a clear winner, with daring feats at the aerial display visitors' area. Three Rafale aircraft touched down at the Yelahanka airbase in Bengaluru last week for the biennial five-day air show. While two of these French-made fighters were used for flying exercises, the third one is just being used for static display. However, these three Rafale jets are not the ones that have been made for India by French aerospace major Dassault. "Rafale for India will not be ready by February. We expect Dassault to fly some other Rafale at the Aero India show here...," Deputy Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal RK Singh Bhadauria had said in October last year. The Rafale jets landed in India on a day when the national auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General or CAG, said in its report that the Rafale deal negotiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is 2.8 per cent cheaper than the one negotiated by the previous Congress-led UPA government. Dassault is set to deliver four Rafale fighters to India in September; they will be tested before being flown. These jets will partly replace the ageing Russian-built MiG-21 fighters that are being phased out. The twin-engine, multi-role fighter can carry out attacks both air-to-air and air-to-ground. The fighter jet is a twin-engine Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft, which security analysts believe can be a ''game-changer'' for India's defence system. (With inputs from ANI)<doc-sep>Political row-hit Rafale jet was the cynosure of all eyes as the breathtaking display of manoeuvres by military aircraft and the aerobatic team cast a spell at Aero India, Asia’s premier air show here Wednesday. The city’s skies dazzled with somersaults and stunts by the metal birds, which also paid tributes to the Surya Kiran aircraft pilot killed in a mishap during rehearsal on Tuesday. The might of the Rafale jet was in full flow as it roared into the skies at the Yelahanka air base, the venue for the event, giving a dazzling display with breathtaking manoeuvres. The US aerospace giant, Lockheed Martin today unveiled the F-21 multi-role fighter which it said is ideal for India. Specifically configured for the Indian Air Force, the jetfighter provides Make in India opportunities and strengthens India’s path to an advanced airpower future, it said. According to a company release here, the F-21 addresses the IAF’s unique requirements and integrates India into the world’s largest fighter aircraft ecosystem with the eminent defence company. Lockheed Martin and Tata Advanced Systems would produce the F-21 in India, for India, the release added. “The F-21 is different, inside and out,” Vivek Lall, vice president of Strategy and Business Development for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, added. The new F-21 designation highlighted the company’s commitment to delivering an advanced, scalable fighter aircraft to the IAF that also provided unrivalled industrial opportunities and accelerated closer India-US cooperation on advanced technologies, he said. This unprecedented Make in India opportunity combined the strength of the defence contractor with India’s industrial house to deliver a historic win-win for India and the United States, the release noted. Earlier, Airbus officials told newsmen at the Aero India show that it had opened a world class training centre for commercial pilots and maintenance engineers in the National Capital Region. This was part of its continuing efforts to support the exponential growth of the civil aviation sector in India. The new training centre, Anand Stanley, president and managing director Airbus India and South Asia, said was a part of the company’s worldwide development plan to address the growing demand for pilots. Airbus forecast that India would need 25, 000 new pilots over the next 20 years to keep pace with the current double digit growth in its commercial aviation industry, an area where the company could play a leading role. The training centre incorporates an A-320 flight simulator for full flight simulation, along with programmes on aircraft procedure training, computer based classroom training and standard pilot transition training. The facility would complement Airbus India’s training centre in Bengaluru which, the company said, had trained over 4500 maintenance engineers since 2007. Asserting there is ‘no scandal’ in the Rafale deal, Dassault Aviation, makers of the fighter jet, on Wednesday said it was also in the race for 110 aircraft for the Indian Air Force, for which the government had floated an RFI last year. The RFI (Request for Information) or initial tender for the deal was issued by IAF in April 6 2018.<doc-sep>Three Rafale fighters landed at the Indian Air Force Station at Yelahanka in Bengaluru on Wednesday evening for the upcoming 12th edition of Aero India, starting from February 20. The first Rafale touched down at 6:01pm, followed by the other two, signalling the beginning of the much-anticipated sky party for Aero India. Out of the three Rafale fighters, two are two-seaters and one is a single-seater. Interestingly, the Rafale fighters landed in Bengaluru at a time when the political dogfight over the selection of these planes has reached a crescendo. The Comptroller and Auditor General submitted a report that looked into the purchase of the Rafale in Parliament on Wednesday. The arrival of the Rafales generated great enthusiasm among aviation enthusiasts of Bengaluru and the media, who had thronged outside AFS Yelahanka on Wednesday evening. The practice flying sorties for Aero India will begin on Thursday and the Rafale fighters are expected to take part in it along with other flying machines. The last port of call for the Rafale fleet before reaching Bengaluru was Al Dhafra air base in the UAE. The Rafale fleet was accompanied by a refuelling tanker over the Bengaluru skies. The tanker is said to have flown to a nearby commercial airport after the Rafales landed at Yelahanka. Aero India officials confirmed that ahead of the arrival of the Rafale fighters, a Mirage 2000 and MiG-21 of the Indian Air Force touched down at Yelahanka. Team Yakovlevs, a top-notch close-formation aerobatic display team from the UK, too have landed. An Airbus A-400M, a turboprop military transport aircraft, also arrived for Aero India on Wednesday. The IAF’s star aerial display teams, the Sarangs and the Suryakirans are expected to join the party on Thursday. The full dress rehearsal (FDR) for Aero India is on February 18 and 19. Around 5.5 lakh people are expected to visit Aero India from February 20 to 24. HAL is checking the feasibility of flying all its helicopters during the formation flypast on the inaugural day of Aero India. Plane major Airbus is landing with A330 Neo, its new wide-body family member that boasts of advanced materials, new optimised wings, composite sharklets and highly efficient engines that together deliver 25 per cent reduced fuel burn and CO2 emissions. Airbus is also planning demonstration flights by its C-295 new-generation tactical air-lifter that can perform multi-role operations under all weather conditions. An Aero India app is now available for mobile download that will enable visitors to buy tickets online in addition to providing show updates. Aero India 2019 is being touted as a show with many firsts and the organisers are ensuring that all shortfalls of the 2017 edition are being looked into. HAL is the primary organiser of Aero India 2019 along with the IAF and ministry of defence.<doc-sep>French aircraft maker Dassault Aviation on Wednesday said it would be in a position to set up a production line for Rafale jets in the country only if India placed an order for at least 100 fighters. Interacting with reporters on the opening day of Aero India 2019, Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier said the current order for 36 planes was not enough for the plane maker to set up a production line or manufacture Rafale parts in India. “An order for 100 jets is required for setting up a production line. That’s the business plan,” he said Dassault Reliance Aerospace Ltd (DRAL) has built cockpit sections and fuel tanks of Falcon 2000 business jets at Nagpur but the company has no plans to manufacture Rafale parts if India caps the order at 36. DRAL, Dassault’s joint venture (JV) with Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group, plans to assemble Falcon 2000 business jets at its Nagpur facility by early 2022 for international customers. “DRAL has started with Falcons. To give work to a company, we need to have a business plan; 36 Rafales are not good enough for transfer of technology,” he said. The first locally built cockpit section of the Falcon 2000 business jet was displayed at the air show. Air Vice-Marshal Manmohan Bahadur (retd), additional director general, Centre for Air Power Studies, said it did not make economic sense for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to set up full facility for manufacturing if the order is small. “The OEMs will not get returns on investment. Hence, there has to be a break-even order,” Bahadur added. DRAL is assembling components for the Falcons and will eventually roll out the jets from a 150,000 square-foot production line as part of an offset commitment under the Rafale deal that requires Dassault to source components worth 50% of the contract value locally. Asked why Dassault chose the Reliance Group that has no experience, Trappier said, “I have the experience and I am transferring the technical knowhow.” Asked if the controversy swirling around the ₹59,000-crore jet deal could dent the company’s chances of winning more orders, Trappier said the Rafale is not a scandal and Dassault could deliver more planes if the Indian government wanted. He said the company was also pursuing an Indian project to build 114 fighter jets locally. “You always have to look to the future. We have been here for the last 60 years and plan to be in India for the next 60 years,” he said. On the Comptroller and Auditor General report that held that the deal for 36 Rafale jets was 2.86% cheaper than a previous one for 126 jets, Trappier said that according to his evaluation, the new deal was 9% cheaper. That was the same claim made by the Indian government. “We gave our pricing to the French government, which passed it on to the Indian government,” he said. He said the first Indian Rafale would be delivered in September 2019 and the remaining 35 over the next three years at the rate of one plane per month. The National Democratic Alliance government’s decision to enter into a government-to-government deal with France to buy 36 Rafale warplanes was announced in April 2015 with the deal signed a little over a year later. In the run-up to the 2019 elections, the Congress has repeatedly attacked the government over the issue, accusing it of awarding the deal for 36 Rafale fighters to Dassault (at a higher price, it claimed) so as to benefit Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group. The government, Anil Ambani’s company and Dassault have rubbished the allegations. Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said: “This vindicates the Congress claim that the manufacturing of Rafale was deliberately taken away from HAL to benefit some private businessman in the form of offset contracts. Now even if manufacturing is brought into India, the same businessman would stand to gain at the expense of HAL...”<doc-sep>
Asserting there is ‘no scandal’ in the Rafale deal, Dassault Aviation, makers of the fighter jet, Wednesday said it was also in the race for 110 aircraft for the Indian Air Force, for which the government had floated an RFI last year. The RFI (Request for Information) or initial tender for the deal was issued by IAF in April 6 2018, the first mega procurement initiative for fighter jets. This was after the government scrapped the process to acquire 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) around six years ago. Instead, the NDA government, in September 2016, signed an Euro 7.87 billion (approx Rs 59,000 crore) deal with the French government for purchase of 36 Rafale twin-engine fighter jets. “There is no scandal in the Rafale deal. We are going to deliver 36 aircraft. If the Government of India wants more aircraft, we will be pleased to deliver. There is also an RFI for 110 aircraft and we are in the race because we feel Rafale is the best aircraft and we have our footprint here in India. So we feel confident here in India,” Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier told reporters in Bengaluru. Asked why Dassault had partnered Reliance despite that company’s lack of experience in making defence equipment, Trappier said: “Yes. But I have the experience. I am transferring this know-how and experience to the Indian team. The Indian team has been appointed by a new company Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited (DARL). They are good for India and the company. So where is the problem?” The deal had raised a political row with Congress relentlessly accusing the Narendra Modi-led government of extending the benefit to industrialist Anil Ambani owned Reliance by firming up an overpriced deal of Rafale jets. The opposition has been keeping the pot boiling over the deal and made it their electoral campaign for the coming 2019 Lok Sabha elections. India had signed a deal with France in 2016 for 36 Rafale fighter jets. Asked the reasons for Dassault going ahead with partnering Reliance despite that company’s financial problems, Trappier said, “They have their own matters, but we are working together. Our teams, both Indian and French, are working well. So I have no worry for the time being.” Trappier also said they chose Reliance as he wanted to be in charge of the industrial process in the company that manufactures parts of the French aircraft in India. “I invested my money to have facilities here in India and I found partners,” he added. On Rahul Gandhi’s charge that Rafale prices were escalated during NDA rule compared to UPA rule, Trappier said both nations made a rebate of about nine per cent compared to the original pricing. The CAG report saying that the Rafale pricing was 2.8 per cent cheaper during NDA rule compared to UPA’s showed that the pricing was better, Trappier said. Also, the Supreme Court had said that the deal was totally transparent and hence he was ‘very much pleased’ with these two observations. To a query, Trappier said it was sad that politics has taken a front seat in the Rafale deal. Instead, discussions should have been around the importance of having the fighter aircraft for India’s defence needs, he said. “Rafale has high performance capacity. The air force officials have examined the aircraft. This fighter will be one of the backbones of the defence of this country,” he said. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)