'The greatest loss from replacing the 126 Rafale proposal with the 2016 contract for 36 Rafales might not be the extra money paid, but the opportunity that India's aerospace industry lost of obtaining access to critical aviation technologies and manufacturing skills.'
The IAF faces a 'fighter gap' of 13 squadrons. The IAF would be caught seriously short in a two-front war -- the worst-case planning contingency in which China and Pakistan attack India simultaneously, points out Ajai Shukla.
'It is not clear how the NDA government -- including Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, backed by senior IAF officials -- claimed that the 36 Rafale contract with Dassault in 2016 cost the IAF 20% less than Dassault's 126 Rafale offer,' notes Ajai Shukla in the first of a three-part series.
The IAF has paid French aerospace firms Dassault and Thales about Euro 350 million for 'performance-based logistics'. This requires the vendors to ensure that 75 per cent of the Rafale fleet is combat-ready at all times, notes Ajai Shukla.
Japan could soon be the second country after the US with which India has a logistics support agreement. Besides the LSA, India and Japan may also sign a maritime domain awareness agreement which would enable the two navies to share information. For example, if a Japanese P-1 maritime patrol aircraft detects a Chinese submarine in the Indian Ocean, it would pass on the information to the Indian Navy, reveals Ajai Shukla.
With cruise missile and air strikes being India's most likely response to a hypothetical Pakistani terrorist outrage in the future, retaliation from the Pakistan air force is inevitable. That is where the S-400 will come into play, says Ajai Shukla.
Is it Rs 300 billion or Rs 66 billion or Rs 33.12 billion?
>Putin's last-minute intervention with PM salvages $5.43 bn pact.
An S-400 unit located near Delhi for protecting the capital would be able to shoot down Pakistani aircraft even before they cross the border to India, and Chinese aircraft while they were still in Tibetan or Nepalese air space.
Warship building projects worth at least Rs 630 billion have ground to a standstill. The defence ministry has halted tendering in wait for a government decision on whether to allow, or to exclude, Anil Ambani's shipbuilding firm from those contracts.
French observers point out that Paris had no choice but to issue a denial given the importance of India's Rafale purchase for France's aerospace industry.
French sources say Hollande was motivated to speak out after an Indian media report revealed that the Reliance Group had part-funded a film venture by his domestic partner, French actress Julie Gayet.
An industrial house bred in old-school manufacturing values, Godrej & Boyce has displayed unusual agility to become a trusted builder of advanced weaponry, discovers Ajai Shukla.
'We have to cut down on manpower to make more for equipment,' Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat tells Ajai Shukla.
The SpyLite aerial system will help our soldiers in border flashpoints like Doklam and in encounters with terrorists in Kashmir.
Here's the lowdown of charges and counter-charges over the multi-dollar deal.
The biggest procurement green-lighted was the Rs 217 billion purchase of 111 naval utility helicopters.
Since 2016, when India was officially recognised in US law as a 'major defence partner', Washington has purposefully upgraded the defence relationship.
These next generation ships can patrol the oceans for three or four months compared to the navy's current patrol boats, which can be at sea for a maximum of 45 days.
Striking the airfield's runway precisely with one bomb is more economical than using traditional free-fall bombs.
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