Air Force chief stands by Rafale jets
DHANOA: GOVERNMENT OR AIR FORCE HAD NO ROLE IN PICKING RELIANCE AS PARTNER
Amid criticism of the Indian government’s Rafale fighter jet deal with France, Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa yesterday said the deal was a “good package” and the aircraft would be a “game changer” for the subcontinent.
“Rafale is a good aircraft. It will be game changer when it comes to the subcontinent. We got a good package, a lot of advantages, in the Rafale deal,” Dhanoa told journalists.
On April 10, 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during a visit to Paris, had announced the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France’s Dassault Aviation. Congress and other Opposition parties have alleged that state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was unceremoniously dropped in favour of Anil Ambani’s inexperienced Reliance Defence Limited as an offset partner for Dassault. But the IAF chief said Dassault Aviation selected the offset partner and the government and IAF had no role in it.
HAL delays
Dhanoa also said IAF was consulted on the acquisition of the Rafale fighter jets. “The IAF had listed its options — this [Rafale] was one of them. We were consulted at the appropriate stage,” he said.
The Air Chief listed several projects where HAL had delayed delivery of jets. “HAL has met overall production targets. But there has been a lag in the delivery schedule of HAL, particularly in the upgrade of Sukhoi 30, Jaguar and Mirage 200,” he stated.
Explaining what went into the Rafale deal, he further said: “We had reached an impasse. We had three options: First was either to wait for something to happen, withdraw RFP [Request for Proposal] or do an emergency purchase. We did an emergency purchase. Both Rafale and S-400 [missile] deal are booster deals for the Air Force.”
The controversy took a new turn last month after former French president Francois Hollande told media: “The Indian government proposed the name of Reliance as offset partner for the French aerospace giant.”