Indian Air Force chief eyes Rafale deal by year-end

Hasimara The deal between India and France for 36 Rafale combat jets could happen before the end of the year the Indian Air Force IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha said on Saturday but to go by the manner in which the negotiations have spluttered in the last seven months this could be a tall orderI hope it will happen by the yearend Air Chief Marshal Raha told IANS when asked when the deal for the jets in flyaway condition was expected to be inkedWe expect it to happen quickly he addedThe deal for the jets manufactured by Dassault Aviation was announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Paris in April but on the French side there is some frustration at the longwinded nature of the negotiationsThe IAF which badly needs to replace its aging fleet of Soviet MIG aircraft was looking forward to the new planes but the offsets clause that requires 50 percent of the deal estimated at 8 million to be pumped back to the Indian defence industry is believed to be a stumbling block as also the pricing While India and France are still involved in the sticky negotiations Egypt has already welcomed three Rafale jets into the country in July five months after inking a deal for 24 planesFrench Defence Minister JeanYves Le Drian visited Cairo a few days after France delivered the jets He was to visit India on August 31 during which the deal was expected to be inkedHowever he flew straight on to Europe after it became known that the negotiations were not likely to be concluded soon The Indian defence ministry had at the time refused to confirm his visitAccording to French envoy Francois Richier the defence minister had to fly to Europe to attend a EU defence ministers meetingThe progress in negotiations was reviewed by the Defence Acquisition Council DAC the top acquisition body of the defence ministry chaired by Minister Manohar Parrikar on September 1 Sources said the progress in talks between both sides was satisfactoryThe negotiations are on the right track The DAC was briefed about it and they gave the go ahead an official had told IANS not wanting to be identifiedThe Rafale had in January 2012 emerged the winner of an IAF tender for 126 medium multirole combat aircraft beating out five other contenders in a bruising competition that began in August 2007 with the floating of a request for proposal RfPDays after the announcement that India was purchasing the 36 Rafale Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar admitted that the tender for 126 air craft was effectively deadGiven this scenario and the fact that Air Chief Marshal Raha had expressed similar hope on October 3 informed sources said it would be a touchandgo affair if at all the deal for the 36 planes was to be inked by yearendThe IAF chief was in Hasimara around 15 km from IndiaBhutan border a crucial air base in Indias eastern sector for the presentation of standards by President Pranab Mukherjee to two squadronsThe base has two squadrons of Mig 27s which are likely to be phased out in the next few yearsAccording to sources at least one of the Rafale squadrons is expected to be based hereAt an interaction with journalists earlier Raha said that Rafale was one of the replacements for the Migs being phased outThe Mig 27 the ones which have not been upgraded are going to retire in next 23 years We have a roadmap for replacements he saidRafale is on the table There are Su30 MKIs the ones being made in India and the LCA he saidThe Indian Air Force is expected to be down to 32 squadrons by the end of this year 576 fighter jets and way below the 750strong fleet required as per the IAF vision document in case of a twofront war with Pakistan and ChinaAt least three squadrons of the vintage Soviet Unionorigin MiG21 and MiG27 single engine aircraft are scheduled to be phased out officially by the yearendThe IAF currently has 33 combat squadrons against a sanctioned strength of 395 which is sought to be raised to 42