[olisipo]

Segundo fontes francesas, o preço dos aviões construidos na HAL seria ainda superior aos  producidos na Dassault e o fabricante francês não acepta têr responsabilidade técnica e económica nestos aparatos construidos sem o seu controlo de qualidade.

[mafets]

A hal teria que construir uma fábrica nova para produzir o rafale. A dassault sempre duvidou do cronograma de construção, entregas e custos que os indianos apresentavam declarando-os irreais, numa empresa que levou 32 anos desde o projecto à entrada de serviço do tejas.

O maior problema foi as transferências de tecnologia, sobretudo do aesa rbe2 que a Thales nem que "chovessem canivetes" queriam passar aos indianos. Por último ás costumeiras pressões políticas, sobretudo na india e a já referida escalada de custos "mataram" o projecto de construir rafale em terras indianas. Fica para já a compra de 36 aparelhos e depois logo se verá ( sobretudo de como correr o T50)


Cumprimentos

[Get_It]

The shock and awe in Rafale deal

UPA did dither in the deal with French company Dassault, but it was more to ensure transparency. Thus, Modi’s decision to buy 36 fighters off the shelf is surprising. What becomes of his Make-in-India pitch, what’s the untold content of the deal?

ON a tolerable day in Paris when the temperature was a balmy 21 degrees, Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have appeared to have flunked his first test for a man who claimed defence manufacturing was at the heart of his Make-in-India programme to create more jobs.

Emerging from talks with French President Francoise Hollande, Modi junked a decade-long selection process for fighter planes by announcing the immediate purchase of 36 Rafale fighters from the stable of the politically well-connected Dassault family.

This effectively buried the previous government’s grand plans of transparency in the selection process and leveraging the huge tender (initially Rs 42,000 crore, but now in the region of Rs 1.2 lakh crore) to create a hub of high tech in India by asking the winning company to source half the tender amount from India.

For the first time since he took power, Modi was also exposed to murmurs of having jettisoned transparency. The recent auctions for telecom spectrum and coal blocks were smooth affairs and netted the government much beyond what it had bargained for. But the bolt-from-the-blue approach to consummating the deal for fighters with France was not helped by a flurry of Tweets by Subramanian Swamy, an inveterate Modi backer, or the explanation that it had now become a Government-to-Government (G2G) deal.

The Indian armed forces have long been used to purchases of defence equipment taking a long slow route that lasts decades. The British advanced jet trainer was finally bought 20 years after talks first opened and several trainee pilots along with experienced teachers had died while cutting their teeth on the unforgiving MiG-21, whose high take-off and landing speeds spell trouble in case of a slight miscalculation. The hunt for a replacement to Bofors artillery guns has run through the tenures of the Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh governments, and there is no end in sight yet.

On cusp of a Bofors moment?
As was the case with Bofors guns, Rafale is an excellent plane. No arguments about that though Subramanian Swamy thought otherwise up to the moment Modi signed the pact with France. As was the case with Bofors, the Indian Air Force desperately needs planes that can perform several functions — fly low and long to bomb targets and get up in the air quickly to have enough maneuverability to take on enemy planes trying to bomb an airfield, bridge or an oil refinery. So, did he do the right thing by short-circuiting the elaborate toothcombing by the Defence Ministry by placing an order for 36 ready-made planes?

Apart from the bare cupboard of the Army when Rajiv Gandhi opted for Bofors and of the IAF when Modi inked the pact for 36 Rafale fighters, there is little in common between the two decisions.

The tender for 126 medium fighter planes was supposed to be different. With Sonia Gandhi as Chairperson, the United Progressive Alliance knew better than any regime the political fallout of a defence bribery scandal. Bofors made Rajiv Gandhi’s 400-plus seat cushion in Lok Sabha a bitter memory and the purchase of coffins during George Fernandes’ tenure at the Defence Ministry contributed to the erosion of goodwill earned by the Vajpayee government for astutely managing the Kargil conflict.

So, taking a lesson from both, the UPA installed AK Antony as Defence Minister and made nearly all mega purchases of defence equipment into a competitive affair in which all bidders were invited for pre and post-bid conferences. What must have been on top of Modi’s mind was that neither of the two approaches worked and some crucial sectors in defence seemed to be slipping back to the pre-Kargil state of neglect. Antony was prone to referring every single complaint to the Central Bureau of Investigation, even if it was an innocuous Defence Ministry letter with nil security implications. And the competitive tender approach activated the dirty tricks department of almost every company in the fray, causing Antony to defer a decision on multi role helicopters, artillery guns and, of course, the 126 fighter plane tender.

In the 126 plane tender, Dassault, a veteran of the Indian defence market since 1957, was unwilling to guarantee the delivery schedules of planes to be made in India, nor was it ready to lower the price — which had ballooned to Rs 1.8 lakh crore by January this year.

India was also caught in a diplomatic tangle with France. Its company Areva was unable to set up six nuclear plants in Maharashtra despite a written assurance by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and despite Paris  having been among the most enthusiastic in urging some recalcitrant Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) countries to vote to end India’s exclusion from the global commerce mainstream. Also, it was unable to act on assurances of an early order to Rafale given to previous French President Nicolas Sarkozy (whose party is backed by the Dassault family) as well as the incumbent, who too would like to remain on the right side of the Dassault clan.

So far the 36 plane order might not be a fit case for approaching the courts. This is because technically Modi has simply expressed his intention to buy the planes and nothing more. It is also untrue that no country is interested in Rafale. Egypt has an order for 24 and Qatar and UAE are reported to be interested as well.

More Rafale purchases
Since the announcement was made by the top executive authority of India, it cannot be cancelled. So it can be argued that India will now be forced to purchase more and more of Rafale planes to make up for the shortfall of MiGs, that are gradually being pulled out from active services. But the urge to somehow meet IAF’s requirement — if it was really that — has also undoubtedly weakened India’s negotiating position for better terms for maintenance.

Modi’s real test will come when negotiators sit down to pencil the fineprint. India will seek technology transfer while France is bound to seek a firm commitment for more planes. India must also get the software source code so that it can refigure the weapon systems and onboard equipment. A competitive approach was always going to be difficult. Most of India’s defence acquisitions have been through the direct negotiations route, be they the three aircraft carriers so far, the Sukhois, the T-90 tanks, frigates and destroyers, the AN-32, Il-76, C-17 and C-130 transport planes or even the Bofors guns. Technology transfer was also not negotiated in advance in many of the cases.

What Modi has to watch out for is better terms and conditions when his negotiators sit down to map the delivery schedules of the 36 planes and future orders. No one would be more competent to detect the chinks in the deal than the present Comproller and Auditor General of India, who was the Director General (Acquisitions) and then the Defence Secretary when the tender route was being pursued.

(...)

New fighters for IAF: 5 yrs in the making
The loss of MiG-21s during the Kargil conflict and superior performance by the French Mirage in hitting Pakistani forces’ supply lines contributed to the enemy capitulation and made the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government taking up Indian Air Force’s request for new fighters in real earnest in 2000.

(...)

The problem Indian Air Force faces
Indian Air Force wants 45 fighter squadrons (18 in each squadron) for a two-front collusive threat. Many bombers and interceptors, all from the MiG stable, are to retire over the next five-six years.
Government authorised strength is 42 squadrons
IAF today has 25 active fighter squadrons, according to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence. But IAF claims the number is 39.
14 squadrons of MiG-21 (VikramTrishul, now Bison) and MiG-27 (Bahadur) aircraft to retire by 2024
Canberras, used for bombing runs, have already retired
Theoretically, the squadron strength will go down to 11 if there are no replacements.
But that is the worst case scenario. At least 13 Sukhois planes are getting inducted every year, almost the entire remaining fleet is getting life extension/more potent engines and weapon suites

Action Plan to arrest depletion
272 Su-30 MKI to form 13 squadrons by 2020
11 more SukhoiFifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) squadrons
Development of Light Combat Aircraft ‘Tejas’ by HAL accelerated, at least six squadrons are projected
3 Mirage (Vajra) squadrons being upgraded
Therefore, Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (Rafale): 2 squadrons or 36 fighters to be with IAF by 2020, 4 to 5 more squadrons subsequently. Can perform both ground attack and interception functions. Lighter than Sukhoi.
6 Jaguar (Shamsher) squadrons to be upgraded
MiG-29 (Baaz) 68 being upgraded
Plane mounted radars - AWACS - to boost potency

[continua]

Fonte: http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/sunday-special/perspective/the-shock-and-awe-in-rafale-deal/69129.html

Cumprimentos,

[nelson38899]

Mais uma venda do rafale, agora são 24 aviões para o Qatar

[mayo]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 106992.cms

[olisipo]

24 Rafale bought by Qatar for €6.3 billion

● The sale, that will be signed on Monday, has been announced by President Hollande



http://www.europe1.fr/economie/rafale-l ... ar-2441207

The deal  includes MBDA missiles and training for 36 pilots and some 100 mechanics.

First delivery is due in 2017, Le Monde reported.

The Qatari deal follows India and Egypt. Egypt signed in February a deal for €5.2 billion, comprising 24 Rafales, a DCNS multimission frigate and missiles, while India announced in April a planned buy of 36 Rafales.

[HSMW]

E é só assim? Compra-se 24 e já está? Ou é o mesmo concurso que tinha o objectivo de substituir os Mirage 2000D?

  http://archive.defensenews.com/article/ ... ompetition

[olisipo]

Rafale para a Índia: serão apenas 36 unidades do caça, e nada mais

A informação foi difundida hoje pelo IHS Jane's, que tamben confirmou o cancelamento do MMRCA (..)

O ministro da Defesa da Índia, Manohar Parrikar, deixou claro que o seu país não vai adquirir mais do que 36 unidades do caça Dassault Rafale. (...)

Também foi descartada a hipótese da Índia vir a produzir localmente, sob licença, a aeronave no futuro. Serão apenas 36 unidades do caça, compradas na condição fly away e só!

O ministro (..) fez questão de enfatizar que ao comprar 36 unidades  do caça, em vez das 126 originalmente programadas (..) vai haver uma economia de aproximadamente US $ 15.5 bilhões e que esses recursos serão investidos na produção do HAL Tejas Continua: http://www.cavok.com.br/blog/rafale-par ... nada-mais/

http://www.janes.com/article/51616/indi ... 36-rafales

http://www.defencenews.in/defence-news- ... 6J439PbrY=

[olisipo]

Egypt receives first Rafale fighters

http://www.janes.com/article/53097/egyp ... e-fighters

   

The first three of 24 Dassault Rafale fighter aircraft for Egypt arrived in-country a day after being formally handed over on 20 July. (...)

 The first delivery comes five months after Egypt announced its decision to acquire 24 (16 two-seaters and 8 one-seaters) Rafale fighters, as well as a large batch of MBDA missiles and other armaments valued at $6 billion. (...)

According to Defensenews.com
 http://www.defensenews.com/story/defens ... t/30419843        

Planes that were supposed to be delivered to the French military were instead handed over to Egypt in order to be able to honour the contract

 The French newspaper "20 Minutes" concurs:  

http://www.20minutes.fr/economie/165411 ... les-egypte
 

Les trois appareils on été prélevés sur le contingent destiné à l'armée de l'air française (...) Dassault Aviation produit actuellement 11 Rafale par an et n'a pas annoncé à ce jour d'augmentation de cadence