The Rafale aircraft project was saved thanks to the Victoria firm of Dassault (France) in a tender for the sale of 126 fighters to the Indian Air Force. In an uncompromising struggle, businessmen from the banks of the Loire won against the creators of the European fighter Eurofighter Typhoon, reducing the cost of the project. A little earlier, the MiG-35 (Russia) left the race.
According to media reports from India, the Rafale ("Rafale") fighter of the IV generation from Dassault (France) won a tender for the supply of 126 aircraft of this type for the Indian Air Force. The French authorities announced this, adding that some points of the deal need to be finalized.
“The contract is ours, but something needs to be done,” said the representative of the French side P. Lelouch, to whom France Presse refers. “We are finalizing the contract,” he said, hinting at the confidentiality of the consultations.
The buyer plans in the format of this deal to replace obsolete MiG-21 aircraft, which make up almost a third of India's military aviation potential.
MiG-21 Indian Air Force
The Rafale (France) multipurpose fighters will be exported to other countries for the first time, and winning the tender de facto saved the project for the production of these aircraft from closure. Previously, the French Air Force acted as a monopoly in orders for equipment of this kind. At the same time, the company tried to expand the geography of sales, offering aircraft of the UAE and Swiss Air Force.
After losing a tender at the end of 2011 for 22 fighter jets for the Swiss Air Force, French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet announced the discontinuation of production of the Rafale as a project if there was no consumer demand for them abroad. Consequently, the purchase by India of a large batch of aircraft revived this program. It is only natural that after this successful deal, Dassault shares on the Paris stock market rose by 20%.
At the final stage of the tender, the competition for the supply of fighters for the Indian Air Force was fought between the French firm Dassault, which represented Rafale, and the conglomerate of European aircraft manufacturers that produced the Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft.
According to Reuters, the French aviation industry managed to win the tender on 2 conditions. The first is a lower price, the second is the similarity of the new fighters with the Mirage 2000, already in service with the Indian Air Force. The contract amount is $ 10.4 billion. At the same time, according to The Financial Times, India wanted to spend a lot more on the purchase of 126 fighters - up to $ 20 billion.
French dassualt rafale
MiG-35 multipurpose fighter
According to the terms of the contract, the French must "invest" 50% of the transaction amount in aircraft production at the premises of the state - the buyer. Therefore, initially, 18 fighters are going to be exported to India, the remaining 108 products will be assembled by the aircraft manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd..
At the same time, Russia also had a decent chance of winning this promising order. The tender for the purchase of aircraft was announced back in 2007. Among the participants, 6 aircraft manufacturers were announced - MiG-35 (manufacturer - Russian SK MiG), Gripen (SAAB) from Sweden, Eurofighter Typhoon (conglomerate), Rafale from France, and F / A-18 and F-16 (Lockheed Martin) from America.
Statistics report that in 2010 the Indian Air Force had 48 MiG-29 fighters in service. In 2012, RSK MiG will export MiG-29K fighters to India (shipborne - for the Vikramaditya aircraft carrier, which is being built here) under a contract signed in 2010. The cost of 29 Russian fighters, which will be sent to India, is $ 1.5 billion. The previous deal with the Indians brought our state 1.2 billion dollars under a 2004 contract for the sale of 16 such fighters.
MiG-29 and Su-30MKI of the Indian Air Force
About 70% of the military equipment that is in service with the army of this country is produced by the military-industrial complex of the Russian Federation. Su-30MKI fighters and T-90 tanks were highly appreciated by the Indian military. Our state could have received this order earlier, but last year it arrived together with competitors from the Swedes and Americans to the competition.
According to the data received, it was the MiG-35 that initially looked better in terms of test performance. All competitors had problems with starting engines, since the airbase was located in a mountainous area, where the air is very thin. Even then, the tender could have been Russian, if the buyers had not announced the second stage of the tender, in which they asked to modify the engine starting system.
Already 4 months later, information appeared in the media about the refusal of the Indian military from our MiG-35s due to the design flaws of the onboard radar and the inconsistency of the engine efficiency characteristics with the declared indicators.
It is noticeable that in recent years, India is increasingly beginning to give preference to Western manufacturers. Rossvooruzhenie did not receive a contract for the manufacture of military transport models for the needs of the Indian army. Instead of the Il-76, the Indians wanted to purchase 6 C-130J-30 Super Hercules (USA) for $ 1 billion. Our aircraft products would be cheaper.
Despite the list of problems, India remains the largest exporter of the Russian military-industrial complex. The World Arms Trade Analysis Center (CAMTO) reported that in 2012 India will export military equipment and equipment from Russia in the amount of $ 7.7 billion, which will make up more than 60% of all planned exports from Russia and 80% of imports to India.
The Indian state is one of the world's largest buyers of weapons and equipment. This year it will spend $ 9.4 billion for these purposes.
Especially large military-technical projects are planned in military aviation. So, this year, our government will transfer to the Ministry of Defense of India 40 Mi-17V-5 "turntables", 21 Su-30MKI fighters (assembled under a license under a 2000 contract), 12 Su-30MKI fighters (under a 2007 contract), 9 fighters deck-based MiG-29K / KUB.
This year, projects will be developed to improve the MiG-29, BPA Tu-142, Mi-17 turntables and a number of other projects, including even the repair of diesel submarines.
The most financially expensive deal will be the handover of the Vikramaditya aircraft carrier to the Indian Navy at the end of 2012. The cost of this bulk is estimated at $ 2.34 billion. The next volumetric contract in terms of price will be the launching under the Indian flag of two ships of the "frigate" type of project 11350.6, the cost of which is estimated at more than $ 1 billion. The third step in the military-technical community will be the leasing of the Project 971 Nerpa nuclear submarine to Indian sailors in January 2012. The price of this deal will be slightly less than $ 1 billion.
