When it comes to supporting thousands of industrial jobs, governments do weigh in. So, it was not surprising to see leaders of several countries aggressively lobbying for India\’s fighter plane contract.
American giants Boeing and Lockheed Martin leaned on President Barack Obama, while the EADS consortium received support from the governments which bankroll the project. France\’s president Nicolas Sarkozy backed the Rafale warplane.
President Obama pitched for Boeing and Lockheed Martin during his India visit in November 2010 and followed it up with a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
?Let me reassure you that the United States is a willing, capable and reliable defence partner to India. High technology defence sales are increasingly a cornerstone of our strategic partnership,? Obama wrote. Curiously, a day after India eliminated the American warplanes from the
MMRCA competition, the US ambassador Timothy Roemer resigned. The US embassy, though, did not link Roemer\’s exit to the failure of US companies.
The EADS consortium, a joint venture of Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK too received government support. Leaders of these governments spoke out in favour of the Eurofighter Typhoon, which finally lost the commercial bid to Rafale. German chancellor Angela Merkel and British prime minister David Cameron along with prime ministers of Italy and Spain reportedly wrote to Manmohan Singh, extolling the Typhoon as the ideal choice for the Indian Air Force.
However, it is France\’s president Nicolas Sarkozy who seems to have had the last laugh. Rafale won the technical and commercial bids, giving him a boost ahead of French presidential elections in April-May. Not surprisingly, it was Sarkozy who first confirmed Rafale\’s Indian breakthrough. Rafale\’s victory is also a matter of satisfaction for the conservative president, who is close to Serge Dassault, the owner of the defence company. Sarkozy was quick to promise technology transfer to India: ?Negotiation of the contract will begin very soon and has the full support of the French authorities. It will include important technology transfers guaranteed by the French government,? Sarkozy said. ?The realisation of the Rafale project will illustrate the depth and scale of the strategic partnership between France and India,? he added.
For Sarkozy who is trailing in opinion polls, however, it may be a tad too early to claim credit though. Rafale\’s failure to clinch export deals and the upcoming drawn-out negotiations are potential party-poopers.
However, even the losers have not completely given up hope. British defence minister Gerald Howarth says EADS Cassidian is willing to reduce the price of the Eurofighter Typhoon to win the deal. Not surprising, since several hundred jobs at the Eurofighter plant and management are expected to be abolished following the company\’s failure to win the commercial bids.