Rafale relief

Editorial | 17 September, 2016

Just as there can no underplaying the significance of the impending finalisation of the deal by which the Indian Air Force will acquire the Rafale frontline fighter aircraft from France, there can be no getting carried away with bombastic hype that the deal is a game-changer and will drastically improve combat capability. 

Sure the jets, and their meteor missiles, will hone the cutting edge: but the limited number of 36 planes (a mere two squadrons) for which the arrangement is expected to be sealed next week is hardly likely to tilt the regional military balance in India’s favour. When contrasted with the original plan to induct 126 Rafales (that fell through because it was proving too expensive), the deal for 36 jets in which the Modi government places so much stock appears little more than a fire-fighting exercise. 

At best the Rafales will temporarily arrest the decline in the fighter-fleet, the worrisome trend will not be reversed since the IAF will continue to be several squadrons short of its desired strength. Unlike the original proposal the 36 jets will be outright purchases, no joint-venture for subsequent indigenous production, a major change in acquisition plans.

That it took well over a year to work out the limited arrangement confirms that despite its claims to have reduced the price demanded and the allied “offsets” the present government has hardly outdone its predecessor in terms of giving the armed services the equipment for which they have been crying themselves hoarse. Translating political rhetoric into tangible reality is easier said than done -- even for Mr Narendra Modi and his squad. Some damage control might be effected if the government sets about (and finds the finances) invoking the contract-provision for acquiring a few more Rafales. Time is of the essence, jets are not picked up off-the-shelf.

Setting up maintenance facilities, including the cost of training technical personnel, might not prove cost-effective if the fleet is limited to just two squadrons.

It has been some two decades since the last major acquisition -- the SU-30 MkI -- was concluded, in terms of numbers the ageing MiG-21s still shoulder a considerable burden. The domestic Tejas has a long way to go before it can be seriously deemed an asset: the IAF could be pressured into deploying it, just as the Army has been saddled with the MBT-Arjun. 

So if the likely fanfare over the finalising of the Rafale purchase is to have its ultimate objective of boosting the IAF’s combat power it is critical to immediately initiate action for acquiring another range of fighters -- particularly since even talk of joint-development of the FGFA (fifth-generation fighter aircraft) with Russia hardly finds mention these days.

Original post: thestatesman

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