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New Delhi:
Former Chief of Air Staff BS Dhanoa on Wednesday welcomed the arrival of Rafales in India and stated he defended the deal to obtain the multi-role jets however the political controversy to cease it from going the Bofors means.
The alleged pay-offs in procurement of a batch of Bofors weapons in mid-1980s and its subsequent political ramifications had severely crippled defence procurement as bureaucrats had been apprehensive of taking selections on navy purchases.
“I defended the deal as I did not want it to go the Bofors way. We were against politicisation of the defence acquisition process. It was a question of capability of the Air Force,” Air Chief Marshal (retd) Dhanoa instructed PTI.
On Wednesday, India acquired the primary batch of 5 Rafale jets, almost 4 years after it inked an inter-governmental settlement with France to obtain 36 of the plane at a value of Rs 59,000 crore. The IAF acquired the Rafale jets 23 years after it imported Sukhoi-30 Ks from Russia in 1997.
“I am very happy for the Indian Air Force as it (the Rafale) has given the Air Force a tremendous capability jump and technological asymmetry over our adversaries something which was missing for such a long time,” Mr Dhanoa stated.
Mr Dhanoa was succeeded by Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria because the Chief of Air Staff in September final 12 months.
Air Chief Marshal (retd) Arup Raha, underneath whose tenure the mega deal was inked, stated the induction of the fleet will bolster the IAF’s functionality, however added that the nation wants no less than 126 fight jets as envisaged earlier.
“It is a good aircraft. It is one of the best in the region. It is going to bolster IAF’s capabilities in terms of aerospace power which has been dwindling for quite some time as there has been no induction of combat jets for quite sometime,” he instructed PTI.
“The Rafale jets will increase the deterrence value. Our aim is not to fight a war unless we are forced to. It is to basically deter our adversaries and say that we will respond if you get on our wrong side,” he added.
The former IAF chief stated India must considerably improve its air energy functionality and that the federal government ought to think about procurement of extra Rafales or comparable jets.
“We need at least 126 aircraft of similar kind. If we get Rafale, it will be better as inventory management will become easier. It will also help maintenance, training and deployment,” he added.
Another former Chief of Air Staff Fali Homi Major stated the 36 Rafales will enhance India’s aerial prowess, however having no less than two extra squadrons will add super functionality to the nation’s air dominance functionality.
“The arrival of Rafales is certainly significant. It is a very good beginning after a very very long break. The Rafales will boost our strike capability. It will be great if we get two more squadrons,” he stated.
One squadron includes of no less than 18 plane.
Both Mr Dhanoa and Major stated Rafale is a a lot superior plane than China’s J-20s.
“The world does not know the capability of J-20s. You cannot really know and you will never know. The Rafale is a much more superior aircraft,” Major added.
The Rafale plane is able to carrying a variety of potent weapons.
European missile maker MBDA’s Meteor past visible vary air-to-air missile, Scalp cruise missile and MICA weapons system would be the mainstay of the weapons package deal of the Rafale jets.
The IAF can be procuring new technology medium-range modular air-to-ground weapon system Hammer to combine with the Rafale jets.
India started the method to purchase a fleet of 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) in 2007 after the defence ministry, headed then by AK Antony, cleared the proposal from the IAF.
The contenders for the mega deal had been Lockheed Martin’s F-16s, Eurofighter Typhoon, Russia’s MiG-35, Sweden’s Gripen, Boeing’s F/A-18s and Dassault Aviation’s Rafale.
After a long-drawn course of, bids had been opened in December 2012 and Dassault Aviation emerged as L-1 (lowest bidder). In the unique proposal, 18 planes had been to be manufactured in France and 108 in India in collaboration with the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.
There had been prolonged negotiations between the then UPA authorities and Dassault on costs and switch of expertise. The ultimate negotiations continued until early 2014 however the deal couldn’t undergo.
The NDA authorities inked a Rs 59,000-crore deal on September 23, 2016 to obtain 36 Rafale jets from French aerospace main Dassault Aviation as an emergency acquisition.
The deal was sealed primarily to examine the depleting fight functionality of the IAF because the variety of its fighter squadrons had come all the way down to a worrying 31 towards the authorised power of no less than 42.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
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