India, France to sign Mirage upgrade deal
India is set to sign a $2.2-billion deal with France to upgrade its fleet of Mirage 2000 fighters ahead of an expected visit by President Nicolas Sarkozy later this year.
The upgrade deal, which had been hanging fire for the past two years due to differences over the price, is likely to be concluded shortly after final negotiations, top Defence Ministry sources said.
The upgrade, which will give the aircraft new radar systems, a new weapon suite, missiles, electronic warfare system and modern electronic warfare, is crucial for the India Air Force as it would also give its most potent fighter an extension in service life. The deal will upgrade 51of the fighters in the IAFs inventory which proved their mettle during the Kargil war by delivering precision-guided bombs.
Air Chief Marshal P V Naik has said that a team will shortly be arriving from Paris to carry out the commercial negotiations. However, top Defence ministry sources said that the deal will finally be inked to coincide with Sarkozys visit, dates for which are still to be finalised.
The deal had been stuck for the past two years primarily due to differences of the price being offered by French manufacturers Dassault and Thales. After going through the requirements of the IAF, which included new radars for the fighter, France had initially quoted a price close to $3 billion for the upgrade. This was coming to about $58 million per aircraft, which, the IAF argued, was almost the price of a brand new fighter jet.
In the revised deal, the cost per aircraft is coming to $43 million, which, according to experts, is still high. The government, however, has decided to ink the deal, given that the upgrade is crucial for the IAF which is battling with an ageing fleet of Russian origin MiG aircraft.
The deal will also strengthen Indo-French military ties, given the recent bad blood over the cancellation of the $2-billion mid-air tanker deal in which the European Airbus 330 MRTT had been shortlisted. This was preceded by the cancellation of the $600 million deal to procure 197 light helicopters for the Army for which a European consortiums copter had been chosen.
France is also keen that India approve the Maitri air-to-surface Low-Level Quick Reaction Missile (LLQRM), which has been jointly developed by the DRDO and Frances MBDA.
While the missiles final design has been locked up and a MoU has also been signed between DRDO and MBDA, the government is still to give a final go ahead for the joint project.
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