Bharat Rakshak

it is known that India is primarily interested in Rafael’s Litening pod, which is intended for navigation and locating ground targets.

Just saw Headlines Today, Rafale deal in Turbulence as 2 members of MoD questioned the process of arriving at L1. It seems they are members of contract negotiating committee.

Antony warned the officials and vendors involved in the process against indulging in any wrongdoing saying “everybody should be careful.... Nobody can corrupt India system. We will not tolerate this”. He said the contract negotiations take place for over six months and after that the deal will have to pass through eight stages.

“It will have to pass through scrutiny in eight stages. After CNC, it will come to Defence Ministry. In ministry also, there will be minimum four stages of scrutiny by Defence Finance. Then it will go to independent monitors appointed by the CVC and then go to the National Security Council Secretariat and Finance Ministry,” Antony said.

The Defence Minister made it clear that Indian foreign policy and relations with any country have no connection with procurement of weapon systems. “Our foreign policy and relations are one thing but our procurements are not based on political considerations. Procurement is based on trials by services and lowest price. There will be no other consideration,” Antony said. At every stage before reaching the Cabinet Committee on Security, the minister said there will be “scrupulous scrutiny” and “total transparency” would be maintained.

Just saw Headlines Today, Rafale deal in Turbulence as 2 members of MoD questioned the process of arriving at L1. It seems they are members of contract negotiating committee.

The country's biggest defence deal for the purchase of 126 Rafale fighter jets, estimated to be worth around Rs.62,000 crore, seems to be running into rough weather.

Top government sources said on Friday that two senior officials of the ministry of defence (MoD), who are members of the contract negotiation committee, have questioned the methods adopted by it to conclude that French company Dassault's Rafale had the lowest bid for the medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) deal.

The contract negotiation committee comprises senior officials from the MoD and the Indian Air Force.

The contract is yet to be vetted by the ministry of finance before it is finally approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security.

Rafale was declared as the lowest bid after the evaluation of the commercial bids made by the different companies to the MoD. Rafale had pipped British fighter jet Eurofighter Typhoon, while the other rivals from the US, Russia and Sweden were eliminated in different stages of competition.

The contract is yet to be vetted by the ministry of finance before it is finally approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security.

how come no one is questioning the C-130 deal ??

One should see what their objection is and then decide.

Screw th MoD officials. Always placing hurdles have become a phenomenon for GOI. Airforce is the end customer and their decision should be final . Bureacracy is still a major problem in India. This is killing the nation. Once the deal is final and communicated to the world, placing objections at this point shows how inefficient and corrupted the system is. These babus should be fired and fined for placing hurdles.

According to sources, while evaluating the commercial bids, a new system was followed that not only took into account the unit prices but also calculated the 'life cycle costs' - which takes into account the cost of maintenance and spares for the period, estimated at 40 years, the aircraft would remain operational.

The sources said the whole formula was based on certain assumptions, which have now been questioned. The contract negotiation committee's report goes to the defence minister, who forwards it to the finance minister. Since the finance ministry will evaluate the MoD's recommendation, the objections made on the file could create a problem. The government, already facing a lot of heat over several corruption scandals, will not like to be questioned over the biggest defence purchase. However, these are early days and the signing of the contract is still a long way, as the defence minister said on Friday.

Antony said: 'It will have to pass through scrutiny in eight stages. After the negotiation committee, it will come to the ministry where there will be at least four stages of scrutiny by defence finance. Then it will go to independent monitors appointed by the CVC and then to the National Security Council secretariat and the finance ministry.' He also ruled out a review of the deal, as urged by the British PM.

^^ Raising questions and making notes on files is a common CYA exercise by bureaucrats. It is similar to asking a car mechanic, "why did you remove topmost bolt first instead of the lowermost bolt in the wheel while replacing the flat tyre?" followed by a note "it is possible to replace a flat tyre by removing the left, right & lower bolt first in the wheel instead of the top one as done by this mechanic"

Screw th MoD officials. Always placing hurdles have become a phenomenon for GOI. Airforce is the end customer and their decision should be final . Bureacracy is still a major problem in India. This is killing the nation. Once the deal is final and communicated to the world, placing objections at this point shows how inefficient and corrupted the system is. These babus should be fired and fined for placing hurdles.

so, what's wrong in asking questions? it is part of the review process.

An old article on the flight test of the Rafale by Peter Collins for FlightGlobal magazine. The best details you'll ever get on the Rafale anywhere! A must read for all BRFites interested in knowing what the Rafale is like.

Flight Test- Rampant Rafale

If I had to go into combat, on any mission, against anyone, I would, without question, choose the Rafale.

Its a whole new process (that not only took into account the unit prices but also calculated the 'life cycle costs' - which takes into account the cost of maintenance and spares for the period, estimated at 40 years, the aircraft would remain operational) and is the FIRST of its kind in the world, ever! When calculating life-cycle costs for the coming 40 years, aren't certain assumptions bound to be made?? There is no way to be 'precise'. The assumptions were probably made with the 'most likely' predictable use of the aircraft over a number of years based on the information available today. There is no way in hell one can come up with precise numbers without making certain assumptions.

Its like someone asking them to precisely predict the future and even if they come up with most probable scenario, its not good enough.. If its a matter of miscalculation, its understandable but when a finance minister questions officials about cost associated with respect to their assumptions (for example..) of likely flying hours, sorties, fuel consumption for those sorties, service hours, etc over the course of the life of the aircraft, it seems ridiculously unreasonable. I just hope common sense prevails.

Thanks Karthik ji, how inept are the french they can produce only 12ac/year. They are as inept as the HAL which can only produce the same number of LCAs. LCA MK3(if at all there is ever one) would be what raffy is right now