Cybaru wrote:54 Raffies make sense. Can fully utilize the ground-based assets that are invested in.
Dauphin is waste of time.
New A330 MRTT is a waste as well. we won't even use 30% of the life of the platform in 30-40 years. Best to buy used A330 and convert them if needed at 40% price.
Buying used A330s, getting them structurally modified to MRTT standards at Airbus or wherever, will take ages. Buying used A330 MRTTs, that too those with just 5-6 years on their airframes is the best possible solution. Cheaper and hardly used, given how many hours and landing cycles the airframe and landing gear can withstand.
From the avionslegendaires.com website
The numbers give the spin. Negotiated for several years now, the contract that the French and Indians would be preparing to sign would be phenomenal since we are talking about thirty-six Dassault Aviation Rafale F4 omnirole fighters and six Airbus DS A330MRTT multi-role refuellers . So far nothing huge but if we add a hundred multi-role helicopters Airbus Helicopters AS.565 MBe Panther we then enter another dimension . And it is therefore the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy which would then strengthen their capacities at a time when India is frequently at grips with its powerful Chinese neighbor.
In fact, for anyone who is at all interested in India and the development of its defense forces, this future giant contract with France is hardly surprising. Rather, it is its volume that leaves you speechless. Today, apart from the Indians, no one has such means of acquisition abroad, not even the Americans!
The excellent diplomatic relations between Narendra Modi on one side and François Hollande then Emmanuel Macron on the other are not unrelated to this upcoming contract.
Thirty-six Dassault Aviation Rafale F4 fighter jets for the Indian Air Force is ultimately quite logical, especially as the two parties have negotiated that the contract is partly part of the " Make-in India ". There will therefore be a logical transfer of technology to Hindustan Aircraft Limited. Fighters who could then allow the slow but constant modernization of Indian aviation to continue. A few days ago, India ordered a little more than 80 indigenous Tejas fighters, these thirty-six Rafale F4s would thus complete the loop by ending the old Mikoyan-Gurevitch MiG-21 Fishbed and MiG-29 Fulcrum acquired over time. of the USSR.
Still at the level of the Indian Air Force, it must be seen that more than ever Paris is preparing to add six Airbus DS A330MRTT to the contract. The bestseller of the European aviation industry would allow Indian aviation to gain flexibility. It must be said that its six current Ilyushin Il-78MKi Midas of Russian invoice are struggling to cover all the Indian territory, and in particular to reinforce the hunt engaged in the border clashes with China.
Airbus DS jets would not replace them but rather lighten their workload. What will happen next if a new order from Europeans is made, there is no risk of not playing in favor of these four-reactors currently in staffing.
These two contracts have actually been under negotiation for quite a short time, roughly between late 2019 and mid-2020. They have fallen behind due to the impact in India of the health crisis of the Covid19 coronavirus. However, since 2016, that is to say then under the François Hollande era, France and India have been working jointly on another contract, more discreet but just as huge: a hundred AS.565 MBe Panther . The latest helicopter of the Dauphin family, brought up to date could be acquired between 110 and 130 units with transfer of an assembly line in India.
Airbus Helicopters would then score a big point against its competitors and allow the Indian Navy to discard its old Kamov Ka-27 Helix machines.and HAL Chetak while obtaining one of the best helicopters on the market.
Five billion euros is the price negotiated between French and Indian diplomats. At such a cost the contract will necessarily be signed directly between Modi and Macron, it cannot be otherwise! Even if the bad tongues and eternal moaners will denounce the transfers of technology and assembly lines, it is a very very beautiful contract which should be signed within a few weeks. We will then have ample opportunity to come back to it.
Not sure if the Panthers are as attractive as the other two, but that could possibly be key to the package. Take it out and the French may not go for the package as is. The French will get the most out of that line while lowering their profits on the Rafale and A330 MRTT. Remember, life cycle contracts for maintenance of those A330 MRTTs will be lucrative enough for Airbus as well as for Dassault.
The way I see it, it's a win win. 72 Rafales would give the IAF a lot of breathing room, allowing for minor delays on the Tejas Mk2 and AMCA programs.