RAFAEL FIGHTER JET

Rafael Fighter Jet

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On 1st August 2020 India finally got its 5 Rafael Fighter Jet out of 36 which were imported from France. It adds one more golden feather in India’s defence system.  Chief of Airforce RKS Bhadauria had received the 5 Rafael Fighter Jet at Ambala. Two were twin seaters and three were single seaters among them.  It was a very special moment for India. The matter of Rafael Fighter Jet was not usual matter like any other matter. The matter of Rafael Fighter Jet was started on 28th August 2007, when the Defence Minister accepted a proposal for 126 Medium Multi -Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) Fighter Jets and ended on 23rd September 2016 when an inter-government agreement was finalized and signed.  

It was one of the most controversial and costlier matters. Let’s take a look at what exactly happened in these 9 years and even after that when the deal was finalized and signed.

On 28th August 2007 Defence Minister accepted a proposal for 126 MMRCA fighter Jets. We needed to buy Fighter Jets so various companies submitted their bids. In May 2011, two aircraft were shortlisted. One was Eurofighter and Rafael Aircraft. Negotiation started in 2012 with Dassault Aviation for Rafael Aircraft because the bid was the least. The deal was to purchase 126 Fighter Jets, of which 18 Fighter Jets were “off the shelf” which means they were supposed to be manufactured in France and they would be ready to fly as soon as we got them. Remaining 108 Fighter Jets were supposed to be manufactured in India by Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL). 

Dassault Aviation , the French company was to transfer its technology to HAL. It is known as Technology Transfer in which company shares the information on how the Fighter Jets could be manufactured in India. Transfer Technology was an important aspect in the deal because if in the future the relation between India and France takes a bad turn or if Dassault Aviation could not manufacture Aircraft even then we could have made the aircraft ourselves in India which would have been similar to the Rafale Aircraft. 

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In March 2014, Dassault Aviation and HAL signed a workshare agreement which stated that 70% of the work to manufacture the 108 Aircraft in India was to be undertaken by HAL and the rest 30% by Dassault Aviation. The negotiation took a long time as the two companies would not agree on several points. During this time our government changed and the negotiations were still not finalized. Finally, on 25th March 2015, Dassault CEO Eric Trappier said that the paperwork was 95% completed. He said that “you can imagine my satisfaction to hear from the HAL chairman that we are in an agreement for the responsibility sharing”. 

On 8th April 2015, our foreign secretary said that negotiations among Indian government, HAL and Dassault’s are still not over. After 2 days PM Narendra Modi went to France and suddenly on 10th April 2015 a joint statement issued by the Indian and French government that a new deal will be struck. As per the new deal, 36 Rafael Aircraft were to be purchased by Indian government “off the shelf” (all of which in fly away condition). 

The opposition questioned that this move as PM Narendra Modi finalized this deal without approval of the candidate committee and security and asked “what happened to the old deal” which included 108 Aircraft to be manufactured in India by HAL. After this on 23rd September 2016, an Inter-Government agreement was finalized and signed. 

The controversy was created because only a few days before PM Modi’s France visit on 25th and 28th May 2015, two new companies were founded one was Reliance Defence Ltd. and Adani Defence Systems and Technologies Ltd. Under the new deal, India and France issued a Joint statement on 10th April it was stated that “the aircraft and associated systems and weapons” would be delivered under the same configurations as had been tested and approved by Fighter Jets from Dassault for Rs. 60,000 crores out of which Dassault has to invest 50% of Rs. 30,000crore in India.

The controversy blew up when on 21st June 2017, a report in Hindu Business Line stated that “of the Rs. 30,000 crores offset money, Dassault is planning to invest Rs. 21,000crore in the joint venture. Again, the opposition questioned this deal and accused the government of favouritism towards Anil Ambani’ Reliance Defence Ltd. but this time not only opposition was the only one which was creating hurdles. The statement of the French President Francois Hollande added fuel to the fire by giving this statement “Modi government chose Anil Ambani as the offset partner and the French government had no choice on it”.

Dassault responded to it, saying that it chose Reliance of its accord. The present French government says they have nothing to do with the deal as it was finalized by Dassault and Reliance. 

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But on 21st October 2018, Dassault CEO said that only 10% of the offset obligation is supposed to go to Reliance. The rest of the offset money will be invested in more than 100 companies. This directly contradicts the report of the Hindu business line and reports of other journalists who said that Rs. 21,000crore are to be paid to Reliance.  Well, the truth will be identified when this offset obligation will start being implemented. But for once Dassault has confirmed that a minimum investment of Rs. 800crore will be put to the Joint venture with Reliance. Under the new deal, the cost for the new deal will be Rs.59,000 crore for 36 Fighter Jets i.e. RS. 1638 crore per plane. This creates all the controversy. Congress asked how did the cost per plane jump up to Rs.1638 crore from Rs.526crore. Almost thrice the original amount. On 18th November 2018 the Junior Minister of Defence told the Parliament that as the new Rafael deal the cost per plane is Rs.670crore. But it increases to Rs. 1638crore because they include the cost of other items such as weapons, maintenance and spare parts. Government tells us the total cost of the deal and the basic cost per plane. Other than these, the government does not disclose. The Defence Minister and the government cite national security as the reason for the revealing details. 

4 PILs were filed in the Supreme Court demanding an investigation into the Rafale deal. On 5th September 2018, SC started the hearing for the case. It asked the central government to share with the court, the details of the Rafale deal in a closed envelope. On 12th November, the Central Government gave the details to the SC as directed. Then on 14th December, SC gave it verdict in 29 pages long judgement. In the judgement SC has stated that it will not interfere in the case of Rafael deal as it is outside its jurisdiction. It is not SC’s place to investigate sensitive defence deals or advise the government on it. 

The case would have ended, if there weren’t factual errors in the SC judgement. But there were some factual errors in SC judgement in respect of Comptroller and Auditor General’s report and Public Accounts Committee (PAC). The SC on 14th November 2019 dismissed the review petitions against its verdict in the Rafale deal on grounds that they lacked merit, reiterating its clean chit to the Modi government in the fighter jet agreement with French firm Dassault Aviation. The apex court also rejected the contention that there was need to register a FIR in connection with the Rs. 58,000 crore deal. “ All well if the end is well”. And with this India has become the world’s biggest arms importer as it modernized its military. India is supposed to get its remaining Fighter Jets by February 2021, or by April-May 2022.