New Delhi: In a major boost to the Navy, the Defense Ministry on Thursday approved India’s plan to buy 26 Rafale maritime combat aircraft and three additional Scorpene submarines from France in a deal estimated to be worth 10 billion euros (Rs 91,000 crore).
Sources in the defense and security establishment said the Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh cleared the proposals soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for an official visit to France on Thursday. He said both the deals would be announced during the visit and the actual contract would be signed later informed of First by ThePrint.
As per the plan, the Navy will buy 22 single-seat Rafale M and four trainer aircraft to equip its indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.
The deal, estimated to be worth 5 billion euros (Rs 45,000 crore), will include the weapons package apart from training and infrastructure costs. The deal comes at a critical time when the Navy does not have enough fighter jets to operate from two aircraft carriers.
Although it operates MiG-29Ks from INS Vikramaditya, the use of the aircraft poses several maintenance issues.
The Navy had chosen the Rafale M over the American fighter aircraft – the F/A-18 Super Hornet. informed of First by ThePrint last December.
The new contract for the purchase of 26 aircraft is an interim arrangement, given that India is building its indigenous Twin Engine Deck-Based Fighter (TEDBF) – a prototype is likely by 2026-27, followed by 2032. Production will start around .
The other important deal to be finalized involves the purchase of three additional scorpene diesel electric submarines Under Project 75, an estimated 4 billion Euros (Rs 36,000 crore) will be spent on India. Under the project, six Scorpene submarines are to be built in India through a joint partnership between French firm Naval Group and state-run Indian shipyard Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL).
The additional orders are being placed as the Indian Navy faces a submarine crisis and has fallen behind on its ambitious 30-year plan to develop an effective deterrent against China and Pakistan by 2030. Under this plan, India was to build 24 submarines – 18 conventional submarines and six nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs).
Of the 18 conventional submarines, the Navy has been able to build only six – the Scorpene – so far.
Project 75 or P-75(I), another program the Navy has been working on for over a decade, is yet to take off. Under this project, new underwater vessels with Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system are to be developed to allow conventional submarines to stay underwater for longer duration. But the French are out of the race for the new project as they do not meet the prime tender requirements of the Indian Navy.
The French, through their Indian partner MDL, had proposed to the government to build three more Scorpene submarines with Indian shipyards, so as not to waste the expertise gained in building the ships.
The Navy finally decided to get more Scorpenes because even if it is decided today who will be the partners, the Navy will have to wait at least seven years before getting the first submarine under the P-75(I). ,
(Editing by Amritansh Arora)
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