Fighter jets, nuclear reactors, maritime domain cooperation, will top the agenda of talks between the two leaders of India and France in July. During the forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to France, an announcement is expected to be made for the marine variant of Rafale fighter jets. And if it happens then India will become the first export customer for the carrier based marine variant.
Prime Minister Modi is heading to France as a chief guest at the French National Day Celebrations on July 14, 2023. This day is known as Bastille Day, and the French public gets together to celebrate “liberty, equality, fraternity”. And on this day there is a military parade on Paris’ most iconic avenue, the Champs-Elysées and there will be Indian troops participating in the parade this year.
Bilateral Talks
During the visit Prime Minister Modi will hold talks with the French President Emmanuel Macron on a wide range of issues including joint production of military platforms, possible procurement of Rafale – M fighter jets for the Indian Navy’s aircraft carrier, nuclear reactors and deeper cooperation in space and more.
Dassault Aviation’s Rafale — M
It has been reported in Financial Express Online earlier this year that the Indian Navy is expected to go for the French Dassault Aviation’s Rafale-M for its aircraft carriers. These jets are expected to operate from the flight deck of India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.
The Indian Navy is looking for 26 fighter jets and has carried out intense trials of the Rafale – M (This is the naval variant of the fighter jets that the Indian Air Force is already operating) and Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet.
At an earlier interaction with the media persons in Delhi, top naval officers had said that after the trials detailed reports were filed and shared with the Ministry of Defence. Both fighters underwent intensive field trials at the Indian Navy’s Goa facility — INS Hansa.
Sources in the defence and security establishment have indicated that the navy prefers the French fighter over Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet as it meets all the requirements of the Indian Navy. “During the trials the French naval variant of Rafale had outperformed Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet. And it had met all the specifications and operational requirements,” sources indicated.
Why is the Indian Navy looking for fighter jets?
The aviation arm of the navy is looking to replace the ageing Russian MiG-29K fighter jets which are operating from INS Vikramaditya.
Financial Express Online has reported earlier that the Indian Air Force has two squadrons of Dassault Aviation’s Rafale fighter jets operating from two bases in the East and North.
Why Rafale M for the Navy?
Because of the commonality. If the Navy goes for Rafale –M it will help save on training, repairs, maintenance and upgrades when needed. According to reports, the two variants of the fighter jets share almost 85 per cent of their components, which means there will never be a shortage or a problem related to spare parts.
The naval variant of the fighter has been designed specifically to operate from the aircraft carrier and it incorporates several features like a stronger airframe, reinforced landing gear, and a tailhook for arrested landings. These jets are capable of ground attack, and reconnaissance.
Interoperability
If the Indian Air Force operates Rafale aircraft, acquiring Rafale M variants could provide logistical and operational benefits in terms of training, maintenance, and spare parts commonality.
The aircraft comes with advanced avionics, sensors, and weapon systems, offering enhanced situational awareness and combat capabilities.
Infrastructure and Training:
Since this is already available for the Air Force, training programmes for the pilots and the ground crew will not be an additional cost, as the Navy has the option to take the twin seaters for training.
The company has according to earlier reports plans to set up a MRO facility in India and this means repairs etc will all be standardized and efficiency in operations and cost of operating these jets.
The French government has indicated its readiness to send some naval variants from its aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle for the Indian Navy. And, Dassault Aviation, according to reports, has offered to carry out repairs onboard the aircraft carrier and on ground at the Goa INS Hansa facility.
While the Navy is looking for short term options to replace the MiG-29K fleet, for its long term requirement to operate off the aircraft carrier it is working on its own Twin-Engine Deck-Based Fighter (TEDBF) aircraft.
It has already been reported that Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and Indian Navy are working on the prototype of a twin-engine, deck-based fighter. This is expected to be ready by 2026 as per reports and the production will start by 2031. The possible induction of these indigenous jets is expected by 2034.