Dassault Aviation chief Eric Trappier has made it clear it would take at least three years to deliver 36 Rafales to the Indian Air Force.
'The air force continues to be short of planes.' 'So, more than a decade after the last selection round got under way, the same process is about to start again for the same kind of aircraft, naturally with the same likely bidders,' points out T N Ninan.
The government's decision to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets from French company Dassault has become a controversial political issue, with the main opposition party Congress levelling allegations of corruption and impropriety, and the ruling dispensation defending the move.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce on Thursday its verdicts on a batch of petitions seeking re-examination of its decision to allow entry of women of all age group in Kerala's Sabarimala Temple and a review of its judgment giving a clean chit to the Modi government in the Rafale fighter jet deal with French firm Dassault Aviation.
In its report tabled in Parliament, the national auditor said the Dassault Aviation and the MBDA proposed in September 2015 to discharge 30 per cent of their offset obligations by offering high technology to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), but the two firms are yet to do it.
He claimed the NDA government bought the planes at Rs 1,600 crore a piece as against the Rs 526 crore for each aircraft fixed by the UPA.
He also advised Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to "learn" from former defence minister Pranab Mukherjee "lessons on national security."
Some of the key fighter jet acquisitions over the years and the combat capabilities they possess that made India's airmen a force to reckon with are.
"It is reiterated that the petitioners are using documents with the intention to present a selective and incomplete picture of internal secret deliberations on a matter relating to national security and defence," the defence ministry said.
Everybody talks of China as the real threat, but we aren't even building a decisive capability against Pakistan, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Several persons fainted and emergency workers carried them in stretches and provided care in shelters. Over 30 people were rushed to nearby government hospitals with symptoms of dehydration.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has seen a reduction in fighter squadrons due to the phasing out of ageing MiG-21, MiG-23 and MiG-27 aircraft. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence acknowledged the "shortage" and highlighted the multi-pronged approach being taken to address it. This includes the induction of indigenous Tejas fighters and the procurement of additional LCA Mk-1A aircraft. The report also addresses concerns over "incidences of spying" within the IAF and details the action taken against those involved.
The top court had rejected the objections raised by the Centre that those documents were not admissible as evidence under Section 123 of the Indian Evidence Act, and no one can produce them in court without the permission of the department concerned as they are also protected under the Official Secrets Act.
Defence Ministry says the report is being verified, maintaining that neither Indian nor French government had any say in the decision.
He also called out Defence Minister Nirmala Sithraman for changing her stance on revealing the cost of Rafale.
He also cautioned against politicisation of defence purchases, suggesting that this had earlier led to the delay in the army acquiring the Bofors gun.
A day after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh formally took delivery of the first of the 36 Rafale multi-role fighter jets, Dassault Aviation, the French company that manufactures the jets, has released the first airborne photographs of the second aircraft with the tail number RB-002.
Referring to Modi's speeches in Parliament on Wednesday, he said it was clear that the prime minister was not interested in answering "fundamental questions".
Dhanoa is a on a four-day visit to France to ramp up cooperation between the air forces of the two countries in a range of areas.
Rahul Bedi explains how 'miscellaneous' factors have posed a major hurdle in negotiating the Rafale deal.
Macron, who assumed the presidency in May 2017, emphasised that this is a government-to-government discussion and "this contract is part of a broader framework which is military and defence" coalition between India and France.
The court's remarks came when the petitioner said they were seeking a court-monitored CBI probe into the deal.
The apex court at the same time made it clear that it does not want information on pricing and technical parameters relating to the fighter aircraft.
Addressing a press conference in the nation's capital, he claimed that Verma's removal was an "insult" to the Constitution, the chief justice of India and the leader of the opposition.
"We don't deny the deaths, which were all related to heat conditions as the people remained under the hot sun from 11 am till 1 pm. Let me make it clear, we made arrangements anticipating 15 lakh people for the IAF's 92nd Day celebrations and even provided more than what the IAF had sought," the minister told reporters in Chennai.
The trio also accused PM Modi of single-handedly changing the parameters of the deal.
Oppn members raised slogans demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe into the issue.
With the Rafale fighter deal stuck over price negotiations, can the prime minister step in and find a way out for both countries?
Congress said it expects the truth to prevail after the report on the Rafale deal is made public.
Gandhi claimed that Modi will not be able to look him in the eye if the two debate the Rafale deal.
Rahul targets the Modi government on Twitter, using the hashtag "BikGayaChowkidar".
MoD dismissed the report saying it draws 'conjectural connection between tax exemption to a private company and procurement of Rafale jets'.
There is considerable discomfort within the defence ministry about the Rafale deal.
The debate on the Rafale jet fighter deal saw a head-on collision between the government and the Congress in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
The Congress, which was not a petitioner before the apex court, wants the Rafale deal to be referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee to go into the price arrived at by the BJP government versus the one negotiated by the previous UPA regime, as also how billionaire Anil Ambani's group with virtually no experience in manufacture of fighter jets was selected as an offset partner for the deal.
The report noted that the 2007 UPA deal included a 15 per cent bank guarantee against advance payments.
Randeep Surjewala also accused the government of "doublespeak" and "sacrificing" national interests.
An internal document shows Dassault Aviation considered Reliance offset deal as a 'trade off' to clinch Rafale deal'.
The Supreme Court's verdict on the Rafale deal spurred a war of words between the BJP and the Congress.
The Congress president had on April 10 claimed that the apex court has made it "clear" that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "committed a theft".
