Bang Galore
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We will get MORE RAFALES ; How we get it is just a matter of detail
36 is just peanuts ; we need more
Unfortunately they cost quite a bit more than peanuts......
The orignal RFP route though an IDEAL thing to do with offsets and TOT
but was not commercially viable
The discussions went on into several previously uncharted territories
The whole thing became a complex WEB of offsets ; TOT ; guarentees ;
workmanship and technical abilities of HAL
labour costs ; supervision ; management control ; QC /QA of HAL
The main reason for the collapse is clear. It is none of the things you mentioned, while all of them had a secondary factor to play, the main one was quite simply the prohibitive cost of the plane itself. Even without all the tot & other issues, the purchase of the aircraft in a fly away condition directly from the French is still quite expensive. The truth is something that has been known for quite a while & I have hammered about it here for the last year atleast. - there is simply no money for 126 of these aircrafts. Which is pretty much what Manohar Parrikar said. It has a debilitating effect on the rest of the essential purchases we require to do, if we buy this aircraft in the numbers originally sought. Anyone who thinks that dealing with the French is a cake walk should seriously check their noggins for brain activity. Whether it is the submarines, the M2k upgradation, the nuclear plant deal or the Rafale buy, the french are anything but pleasant to do business with. This is just another instance in a series of such instances. We may have been caught in a bind here and may end up buying some more aircraft but you can certain that we are getting ripped off big time any which way.