'It is hard to justify $225 million a plane for an increasingly obsolete mission.' The purchase of the 36 Rafales has changed little for the IAF.
The defence ministry stressed that the purchase of 36 Rafales was 'strictly in accordance with the Defence Procurement Procedure in all aspects.' However, the DPP-mandated process had not been gone through when Modi announced the agreement on April 10, 2015,' observes Ajai Shukla.
Delivery of a great operational machine must not get affected to settle political scores, says Air Marshal Anil Chopra (retd).
Confident of signing the much delayed USD 10 billion (Rs 62,120 cr) contract for Rafale fighter jets with India "soon", French Defence major Dassault on Thursday said its pricing remains the same from day one and it has not wavered from the request for proposal.
'There is no secrecy clause to the price (of the aircraft).' 'There can be secrecy on the capability of the nuclear payload of aircraft and things like that, but the price is hardly a secret.'
Is the price of one fighter Rs 681 crore? Rs 686 crore? Rs 703 crore? Rs 1,063 crore? Rs 1,225 crore?
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