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How the Rafale and Eurofighter allured the Indians
On May 25, 2011 by Guillaume Lecompte-Boinet
The Indian invitation to tender for the purchase of 126 fighters entered a new phase. Baptized L 1 by the Indian ministry of Defense, this competition finally opposes the Rafale of Dassault to Eurofighter of the EADS-BAE-Finmeccanica trio. Return on the conditions of a very tight duel.
In face to face Rafale-Eurofighter, it is not any more question from now on of tests in vol. the airframe manufacturers of the two hunters will polish their commercial proposition and their offers as regards technology transfers.
The Indians are given a few months to slice, and give their decision from here - theoretically - March 2012. Theoretically, because all the specialists in India know that in this country, time does not have the same value as in Occident. Certain invitations to tender lasted several years, even of the decades before a contract in due form is signed.
This is why French and German were surprised relative speed with which official Indians finally the Rafale and Eurofighter-Typhoon, represented by EADS Germany selected. Between the launching of the invitation to tender at the end of 2007, and this decision, it hardly ran out four years.
This time, which can appear long, is rather normal when six should be tested have very different: in addition to the Rafale and Eurofighter-Typhoon, there were the F/A-18 of Boeing, the F-16 of Lookheed Martin, Gripen of Swedish Saab and the MIG-35 Russian.
The evaluations in flight, which took place during spring and of the summer 2010, lasted more than one month for each plane in string. Each one passed to the tail-leu-leu, the F/A 18, then the F-16, Gripen, the Rafale, Typhoon and finally the Mig one.
The Indian pilots were not unemployed! All the configurations were tested: flight with very high-altitude, low altitude, in desert medium, emergency landing, stopping and restarting of the engines.
In the same way, the Indians drew from the armaments, missiles and gun. They became to the fine comb the capacities of deployment of the planes with their teams of maintenance and the mechanics, with for example, a timing of times of charge-discharge of the engines.
Any cancellation of a flight for technical reasons - and that can arrive in this kind of evaluation - was taken into account. According to certain sources, the Rafale and Typhoon would have marked invaluable points on this type of criteria. “Potential customers do not want only one fighter plan super-powerful, he wants also a machine reliable and whose cost of implementation is reasonable over at least 30 years”, an expert indicates.
The planes in string were also confronted with the Indian MiGs in simulations of aerial combats. And so that all that is possible, the Indian pilots had to go in each country concerned to be formed, on simulators and in real flight. Dassault accomodated them on its site of Istres at the beginning of 2009, that is to say more than one year before the evaluations themselves. A true marathon!
But another will start since 2012. Indeed, gaining it of the competition will have a very tight timing to deliver the first plane since the Indians indicated to want it for 2014. However in general, one needs at least three years and half to develop the first specimen of a hunter bought by a foreign country.
Reason: there are always complementary developments claimed by the country customer, relating in particular to the embarked systems. One did not finish hearing of this competition.
Barfi production has commenced...
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