FRENCH FOOT IN THE DOOR
French President Emmanuel Macron’s maiden visit to India on December 8 is likely to be leavened by two exciting items of military commerce—the sale of three additional French submarines and orders for 36 more Rafale fighter aircraft.
India is currently building six Scorpene submarines at the Mazagon Dock Ltd (MDL) in Mumbai under a Rs 23,562 crore contract signed with France in 2005. France will deliver the first of the 36 Rafale jets, signed in 2015 for 7.7 billion euros (Rs 59,000 crore), by 2019. Both proposals under discussion at the service headquarters are worth billions and have ‘option clauses’ in the agreements, which mean additional numbers can be supplied at the cost of the original contract. The deals could cement the strategic partnership France enjoys with India and enhance Macron’s pro-business image within his country. The IAF is believed to have recently projected a demand for 36 additional Rafale jets on the grounds that they would be 40 per cent cheaper than the original batch (the ground support and maintenance equipment is already built into the first contract). The defence ministry (MoD) is yet to take a call on this.
French defence minister Florence Parley, meanwhile, visited the MDL on October 28 where the submarines are being assembled, amid a strong sales pitch for the additional submarines by French shipbuilder DCNS. The French shipbuilder has agreed to alter the original design, adding on new features like Air Independent Propulsion (AIP), which extend a submarine’s underwater stay, and land-attack cruise missiles. The navy’s present fleet of 13 conventional submarines are nearing the end of their service lives and are being given life extensions.
The first two Scorpenes, the Kalvari and Khanderi, are already undergoing sea trials. The last and sixth boat will be delivered by 2021 and DCNS has reportedly offered to start delivering the next three in 18-month intervals. This is an attractive proposition for the navy which needs new underwater platforms fast to deter China’s increased maritime capabilities in the Indian Ocean. The indigenous option to make a new class of six submarines by private sector players in collaboration with foreign shipyards, under ‘Project 75I’, is at least seven years away. The government needs to clear strategic partnerships between private sector players and foreign technology partners, before construction contracts can be awarded.
Both repeat orders appear attractive in the short term, but in their present form could present a dilemma for the government because they fly in the face of its ‘Make in India’ pitch for making weapons indigenously.