Germany cashes in on Rafale deal stalemate, hardsells its Eurofighter to India

[The Huskar]

NEW DELHI: Days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit there, Germany today said European military consortium EADS was still ready to provide India Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, asserting that the jets are "good" both in terms of quality and price.

India has been in negotiations for last three years with France's Dassault Aviation for procurement of 126 Rafale jets, which is being considered world's biggest military aircraft deal.

German Ambassador Michael Steiner said the European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS) was ready with its proposal to offer Eurofighter to India.

"The consortium stands ready with their proposal. The governments of the four nations are supporting this proposal because they are convinced it is a good one both in terms of quality of the product and price," he told reporters.

At the same time, he said the consortium will continue to respect the Indian procurement procedures and it was for India to decide what kind of aircraft it wants to procure.

Prime Minister Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will jointly inaugurate the Hannover Messe fair on April 12. India is the partner country for the famous fair this year.

Rafale was selected by India from among five bidders in 2012 since it was the lowest bidder. The Rafale and European Eurofighter Typhoon were the only two defence majors left in the race for 126 plane-deal after years of tests on technical and other aspects.

Modi is also visiting France but it is not clear whether the Rafale deal would figure during his talks with French President Francois Hollande.

The deal with Dassault Aviation has been stuck for the last three years on cost and gurantee clause. Indian government officials say that while the deal was initially for about Rs 42,000 crore, French are seeking a higher price now.

Under the guarantee clause Rafale has to provide guarantee for the planes that would be manufactured by state-owned HAL.

 

[Dalit]

Loving the MMRCA circus. Anything is still possible as it seems.

 

[ACE OF THE AIR]

NEW DELHI: Days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit there, Germany today said European military consortium EADS was still ready to provide India Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, asserting that the jets are "good" both in terms of quality and price.

India has been in negotiations for last three years with France's Dassault Aviation for procurement of 126 Rafale jets, which is being considered world's biggest military aircraft deal.

German Ambassador Michael Steiner said the European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS) was ready with its proposal to offer Eurofighter to India.

"The consortium stands ready with their proposal. The governments of the four nations are supporting this proposal because they are convinced it is a good one both in terms of quality of the product and price," he told reporters.

At the same time, he said the consortium will continue to respect the Indian procurement procedures and it was for India to decide what kind of aircraft it wants to procure.

Prime Minister Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will jointly inaugurate the Hannover Messe fair on April 12. India is the partner country for the famous fair this year.

Rafale was selected by India from among five bidders in 2012 since it was the lowest bidder. The Rafale and European Eurofighter Typhoon were the only two defence majors left in the race for 126 plane-deal after years of tests on technical and other aspects.

Modi is also visiting France but it is not clear whether the Rafale deal would figure during his talks with French President Francois Hollande.

The deal with Dassault Aviation has been stuck for the last three years on cost and gurantee clause. Indian government officials say that while the deal was initially for about Rs 42,000 crore, French are seeking a higher price now.

Under the guarantee clause Rafale has to provide guarantee for the planes that would be manufactured by state-owned HAL.

Would it be possible to shift to the higher bidder according to INDIAN law's?
Is there any Law that gives legal coverage to the Executive's (GOI) without going through the Parliament or re-bid?

 

[The Huskar]

Would it be possible to shift to the higher bidder according to INDIAN law's?
Is there any Law that gives legal coverage to the Executive's (GOI) without going through the Parliament or re-bid?

There is a possibility to accept the product of a higher bid than the lowest bidder,if the product offered provides such an operational edge that outweigh its high costs.But in case of MMRCA both Typhoon and Rafale are more or less the same technology and also has almost same potential of future upgradation.So i think the offer for Typhoon is moot as it would take another 2-3 years to negotiate technical offsets.The GOI would rather go with more Tejas Mk1 and faster development of Mk2 in case Rafale deal is cancelled.
The final decision regarding any defence purchases lies with CCS(Cabinet Committee on Security).If CCS decides that Typhoon is more suitable than Rafale,then it will done so.

 

[SrNair]

NEW DELHI: Days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit there, Germany today said European military consortium EADS was still ready to provide India Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, asserting that the jets are "good" both in terms of quality and price.

India has been in negotiations for last three years with France's Dassault Aviation for procurement of 126 Rafale jets, which is being considered world's biggest military aircraft deal.

German Ambassador Michael Steiner said the European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS) was ready with its proposal to offer Eurofighter to India.

"The consortium stands ready with their proposal. The governments of the four nations are supporting this proposal because they are convinced it is a good one both in terms of quality of the product and price," he told reporters.

At the same time, he said the consortium will continue to respect the Indian procurement procedures and it was for India to decide what kind of aircraft it wants to procure.

Prime Minister Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will jointly inaugurate the Hannover Messe fair on April 12. India is the partner country for the famous fair this year.

Rafale was selected by India from among five bidders in 2012 since it was the lowest bidder. The Rafale and European Eurofighter Typhoon were the only two defence majors left in the race for 126 plane-deal after years of tests on technical and other aspects.

Modi is also visiting France but it is not clear whether the Rafale deal would figure during his talks with French President Francois Hollande.

The deal with Dassault Aviation has been stuck for the last three years on cost and gurantee clause. Indian government officials say that while the deal was initially for about Rs 42,000 crore, French are seeking a higher price now.

Under the guarantee clause Rafale has to provide guarantee for the planes that would be manufactured by state-owned HAL.

According to my friend who works in HAL all we need is to sign the agreement .Rest of the clauses and formalites are just finalised.

Loving the MMRCA circus. Anything is still possible as it seems.

Nothing will happen .Rafale is almost finalised .

 

[shree835]

No Need to think much on this...April 2015 is going to prove decisive month for MMRCA Deal...This is something like AAR YA PAAR.

 

[The Huskar]

According to my friend who works in HAL all we need is to sign the agreement .Rest of the clauses and formalites are just finalised.

.

Will it be signed during Modi's France visit.

 

[Skillrex]

Just sign the damn deal..

 

[SrNair]

Will it be signed during Modi's France visit.

I asked him about the fighters in our inventory and also about Rafale deal.He told me that entire formalities and ToT are finalised .All we need is a agreement signing of that deal .I am not sure but there is a good chance for signing the deal during Modi visit.

 

[ACE OF THE AIR]

US Filling Saudi Munition Holes | China, South Korea Talk Arms Control THAAD’s Shadow | Airbus Seeks Indian Partner

US Filling Saudi Munition Holes | China, South Korea Talk Arms Control in THAAD’s Shadow | Airbus Seeks Indian Partner
Apr 07, 2015 00:28 UTC by Defense Industry Daily staff
America

• Rockwell Collins was awarded a $495 million contract Tuesday for software and system integration on the Army’s helicopters, with a portion of these services earmarked for foreign sales. The company was also awarded a $8.1 million modification for the Common Avionics Architecture System to equip CH-47F helos.
• In further good news for Rockwell Collins, the company will supply 44 Communication Navigation Surveillance/Air Traffic Management systems for the KC-10 tanker fleet, following a similar contract in August.
• The US is ramping up arms transfer to the Saudis, media reported Tuesday, with munitions high on the list of requirements. The assistance is being allocated through a Joint Planning Cell with the Saudis.

Europe

• The European Defence Agency announced new funding for dual-use technologies , releasing a Request for Projects notice Tuesday.
• Turkey is looking to speed up its development of a conceptual trainer aircraft, to be designed and built domestically. The new trainer will be specifically designed to train pilots to use new fighters procured through the indigenous TF-X program , with a RFI for this program released last month.

Asia

• Pakistan wants to buy fifteen AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters, gun systems, 1000 Hellfire II missiles and other equipment through apossible FMS . The cost? $952 million. The State Department has green-lit the deal, with the potential sale going to Congress.
• India will not sign its stalled multi-billion Rafale contract with Dassault until the French company agrees to what the Indian government says was the original pricing structure for the deal. The drawn-out MMRCA programhas seen multiple disputes between the Indian Defense Ministry and Dassault, with the Indians threatening to walk away from the deal in January. Although this may be simply bluster, the Russian vultures are circling, ready to supply the SU-30 fighter if the Rafale deal falls through.
• China and South Korea are to hold arms control talks this week , an interesting development given the recent tension over US plans to base THAAD interceptors in South Korea to complement the existing jointly-operated Aegis/Patriot systems.
• According to Japanese media , Indonesia is contemplating buying the US-2 amphibious plane, the same design India is currently in talks with Japan over.
• Airbus is reportedly in talks with six Indian defense contractors in an effort to find a domestic company to reply to a $2 billion naval helicopter RFI, with Indian procurement regulation allowing only an Indian company to respond.

 

[Luca1]

No Need to think much on this...April 2015 is going to prove decisive month for MMRCA Deal...This is something like AAR YA PAAR.

March 2015 was the decisive month. How long will this have to drag on before its way too long? Indians do have lots of patience.

 

[Hindustani78]

March 2015 was the decisive month. How long will this have to drag on before its way too long? Indians do have lots of patience.

I think Indian military planners are aware of what they are doing . We have received 2 upgraded Mirage 2000 and the rest are going to be upgraded within India and its obvious that when one deal is done and when Indian Airforce is satisfied then only Republic of India will go for the next deal . I am seeing that the deal is going as per planned.

Indian government has cleared a $2.4 billion deal with France for upgrading India's Mirage-2000 combat planes in July 2011, Dassault conducted the first flight of an upgraded Mirage 2000 fighter for the Indian air force at Istres air base in France on 5 October 2013. and Indian Air Force received 2 upgraded Mirage 2000 recently in 2015.

Mirage facility in HAL in January, and learned that the third and fourth upgraded fighter would be completed in September and November 2015 respectively. There are 120-130 technicians working in HAL's Mirage 2000 upgrade and overhaul facility in Bengaluru.

Be it Rafale or Eurofighter , the money will go to the European weapon industries because they are having similar shares.

 

[shree835]

March 2015 was the decisive month. How long will this have to drag on before its way too long? Indians do have lots of patience.

when we want to equip our AF with best available option to counter our enemy ,in the same time selected option by IAF is going to change face of Indian aviation industry, then we must and should have patience.

 

[Dr Gupta]

Biggest defence contract in recent years has many clauses and small print which needs to be ironed out but Modi will be in Germany and France so we might get a surprise soon