France slashes Rafale Marine fighter jets' price after talks

New Delhi: India and France are inching closer to signing a deal for the Rafale Marine fighter jets required for Indian aircraft carriers, with the two sides coming to a final price bid for the acquisition. Sources said that after several rounds of negotiations in the defence ministry, the price offer has been significantly reduced and the deal would be benchmarked on the 2016 deal for 36 Rafale jets that were acquired for the Air Force.

The acquisition, which has been in the works for over three years, is also likely to be discussed during the visit of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to Paris this week. The naval fighter acquisition as well as an order for three additional Kalvari class submarines to be built in Mumbai are the two major defence deals being processed with France.

The Navy has a requirement of 26 fighter jets capable of operating from its aircraft carriers. In a series of trials, it evaluated both Boeing F/A 18 Super Hornet and Rafale M before selecting the latter on technical grounds.

For more than a year, commercial discussions have taken place between India and France for a final signing of the contract. The deal is being processed under the government-to-government route, as was the case for the previous acquisition of Rafale jets for the Air Force.

Sources said besides compatibility with the Air Force fleet, the naval jets will be equipped with specialised anti-ship weaponry and long-range fuel tanks for tasks at sea. They will also get the Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missiles, which are by far the most advanced in the region.

Earlier, the Rajnath Singh-led Defence Acquisition Council had approved certain amendments that led to the offering of a final price bid. Among them were dropping of an earlier plan to integrate an Indian radar and weapons on the naval jets. The plans were dropped due to the high cost involved in replacing the radar and more importantly the estimated timeline of eight years to complete the integration.

The Rafale Ms are being bought as a stop gap arrangement till the development of indigenous twin-engined deck-based fighters that is being undertaken by the Aeronautical Development Agency.