Impasse over Rafale jets
The Rafale fighters are expected to replace some of India's existing Mirage jets and MiGs. However, defence military officials have said that
India insists that Dassault takes full responsibility for production of the air-craft at a state-run facility in Bengaluru.
France has said it will help Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd with delivery schedules, however it cannot give guarantees of air-craft production at a facility that it has no administrative or expert control.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had said at the airshow that India will make a decision on the fate of this deal after March, when a committee of the defence ministry will deliver a report on the issue.
Chairman at Indicia Research and Advisory (a New Delhi-based defence consulting firm) Deba Mohanty said that cancellation would be "disastrous".
"It's a really tricky situation in which the supplier is unhappy, the bureaucrats are unhappy and the end user is disappointed," said Mohanty.
Over the last few years, India successfully introduced Boeing's (BA.N) C-17 and P-8 Poseidon anti-submarine aircraft along with Lockheed Martin's C-130J. Experts said thiss hows off-the-shelf solutions work best.
On the other hand, under Modi's "Make in India" programme, building a domestic defence industrial base is emphasised to reduce dependence on foreign supplies which led to India becoming the world's biggest arms importer.
Also read: Modi vows to end India status as top defence importer
As a result, the DRDO is working on the Tejas Mark II which is slightly larger than the original place and will feature more powerful engines and better radars along with updgraded avionics.
Local train jets, helicopter programmes and light transport aircrafts are also under way.
"People who fly planes want the best value for money, which means off-the-shelf," said Aboulafia. "People who want jobs and technology development schemes have different priorities. That's why the two groups don't like each other much."