India goes French with US$11b fighter jet deal
Source: Agencies |
February 1, 2012, Wednesday
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INDIA has decided to buy 126 French-made Rafale combat aircraft for the Indian air force, clinching a massive US$11 billion defense deal, a top government official said yesterday.
The French aviation company Dassault snapped up the mega deal after emerging with the lowest bid in a two-way competition against the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, the official said.
Planes from Boeing Co and Lockheed Martin of the United States and from Russian and Swedish makers were dropped from consideration earlier. The deal is the first foreign deal for Dassault's Rafale fighter jets.
India, the world's biggest arms importer, is being wooed by major international arms manufacturers as it replaces its obsolete Soviet-era weapons.
Eighteen fighter aircraft will be delivered in "fly away" condition within 36 months and the rest 108 are to be built by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd through technology transfers.
Olivier Dassault, a French lawmaker and the son of Groupe Dassault Chairman Serge Dassault, said the deal was very good news for the French aviation industry.
"It's a program on which more than 500 companies are cooperating," he said. "It's a victory for all these small- and medium-sized, high-tech companies."
The Rafale, in service for the French Air Force since 2006, has been flying air support roles in Afghanistan since 2007, and was a big part of the NATO air campaign against Moammar Gadhafi's forces in Libya in 2011.
The French aviation company Dassault snapped up the mega deal after emerging with the lowest bid in a two-way competition against the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, the official said.
Planes from Boeing Co and Lockheed Martin of the United States and from Russian and Swedish makers were dropped from consideration earlier. The deal is the first foreign deal for Dassault's Rafale fighter jets.
India, the world's biggest arms importer, is being wooed by major international arms manufacturers as it replaces its obsolete Soviet-era weapons.
Eighteen fighter aircraft will be delivered in "fly away" condition within 36 months and the rest 108 are to be built by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd through technology transfers.
Olivier Dassault, a French lawmaker and the son of Groupe Dassault Chairman Serge Dassault, said the deal was very good news for the French aviation industry.
"It's a program on which more than 500 companies are cooperating," he said. "It's a victory for all these small- and medium-sized, high-tech companies."
The Rafale, in service for the French Air Force since 2006, has been flying air support roles in Afghanistan since 2007, and was a big part of the NATO air campaign against Moammar Gadhafi's forces in Libya in 2011.
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