Reported for Doctored and Misleading Title.
As the Parliament is not in session currently , there is no way a minister can speak anything in Parliament.
For those who are saying No more Rafales.
There is a reason India paid ~2billion USD forv India Specific Upgrades for Rafales.
There is a reason why ~1 Billion USD was paid for support Infrastructure development here. And that's for 3 different air bases with 12 Rafales initially each...
Sir according to me , the required numbers are big enough , or really big to have ~150-250 Foreign Single Engine aircrafts along with having Rafales.
Most people oppose single engine because they think it would cut down Rafale numbers. But the day India paid ~2 billion USD for Indian Specific...
Yes that is the main contention issue right now. If according to promise , the Russians make 2 Prototypes with new engines ready for us by 2019, we would lease/buy two squadrons of the present model, which is likely to go into production for Russian AeroSpace Forces.
By mid 2018, first two Type 209s would be retired, first two scorpenes would replace them .
The other two Type 209s are currently under upgrade and will see some more service.
Everything depends upon the Report on Leak.
If its not that bad , a follow on order for scorpenes could be...
@Penguin
61 Kommunards and State Design Bureau of Ukraine advertise quite a few products on their websites.
Is the Ukrainian Ship Building Industry presently capable to deliver those vessels , without any kind of Russian or Western Support ?