Glimpses from the 54th International Paris Airshow.
Saab believes co-developing Tejas Mark II would end need for Rafale. Ajai Shukla reports
Amid fears of delay in the 126 combat aircraft deal, defence ministry and French Dassault Rafale will hold talks on Friday to iron out differences between them over the responsibilities to be given to the state-run HAL in the contract estimated to be worth USD 15 billion.
Overcoming tough competition from Eurofighter Typhoon, French aviation company Dassault's Rafale fighter jet has won Indian Air Force's mammoth deal for 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft worth Rs 52,000 crore.
Reliance Industries has been eyeing the relatively closed field of defence manufacturing and homeland security for the past year or so. In fact Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani handpicked Dr Vivek Lall, a former top executive with Boeing last year to lead the company's foray into the sector
The selection of Dassault's Rafale as India's new MMRCA fighter was only the latest step in the Air Force's long and painstaking process to pick itself a winner, writes Ajai Shukla.
"We are calculating very hard. There is a lot of work going on. I expect (in) another four weeks, we should be able to wrap it up", Browne told media persons amid intense flurry among the two remaining contenders Eurofighter and Dassault's Rafale.
The latest avatar of the F-15 is designed to deal with the world's most potent air threats that are emerging from China.
The navy is pushing hard for IAC-2 to be a 65,000-tonne, flat deck carrier that is designed and built in India, with technical and tactical consultation from the US navy -- the global masters in aircraft carrier operations.
Singapore Airshow, Asia's largest and one of the top three aerospace and defence shows in the world, is underway.
The 2019 Paris Air Show will run until Sunday at Le Bourget Airport.
Feast your eyes on these birds!
Airbus' $99 million payout puts a new light on Eurofighter's 'unsolicited bid' to the Modi government, reducing the cost of the Typhoon fighter by 20 per cent, making it in retrospect significantly cheaper than the Rafale.
He had come in search of jobs in America to rescue his presidency and India failed him in more ways than one, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'There is no secrecy clause to the price (of the aircraft).' 'There can be secrecy on the capability of the nuclear payload of aircraft and things like that, but the price is hardly a secret.'
'The INS Vishal -- a 65,000 tonne giant with 54 aircraft, including fighters, electronic warfare aircraft, airborne command posts and anti-submarine helicopters -- can both protect and dominate,' says Ajai Shukla.
The BJP, however, reacted sharply to Gandhi's remarks saying the Congress leader will do well worrying more about his constituency.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has voiced his concern at Dassault's reported reluctance to meet the terms of the IAF tender, which required the French company to guarantee the 108 fighters that HAL would build in India, after the first 18 were supplied fully-built in France.
The Raksha Mantri was unable to address media queries about how much the Modi government was paying for 36 Rafales compared to what the UPA government had negotiated.
Gandhi has been attacking the BJP government for allegedly inking the deal at a much higher price than the one the previous United Progressive Alliance regime had negotiated to benefit 'one businessman'.
With the Rafale fighter deal stuck over price negotiations, can the prime minister step in and find a way out for both countries?
Along with HAL, Boeing intends to involve the Mahindra Group in building Super Hornets in India.
The contracts with Israel Aerospace Industries will condemn the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft to a marginal presence in the IAF's future fleet.
'It is hard to justify $225 million a plane for an increasingly obsolete mission.' The purchase of the 36 Rafales has changed little for the IAF.
'Let us remember that Make in India for defence must not be our goal.' 'The goal is to have a strong military to help the nation protect its identity and assert its will.'
Even as three Rafale fighters line up in Bengaluru for eye-popping aerobatics displays at the Aero India 2015 exhibition this week, senior ministry of defence sources say the proposal to buy the French fighter is "effectively dead".
In the light of India's increasingly 'darkening' threat environment and the convergence of strategic interests between China and Pakistan, the IAF's declining combat capabilities are a cause for concern, says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
What the new defence minister does with the Rafale fighter jet deal will decide if India wants to build genuine, long-term defence capability through an indigenous product that slashes life-cycle costs, or opt for glitzy signing ceremony with foreign vendors that would please the public, says Ajai Shukla.
Every demand of the armed forces remains essentially anchored to 1964 and its fulfilment or otherwise largely a function of money availability
Rahul Bedi explains how 'miscellaneous' factors have posed a major hurdle in negotiating the Rafale deal.
'The government has belied the hope that many harboured of change, efficiency and dismantling old practices as the defence ministry continues to pursue the same well trodden and wasteful path.'
'The armed forces have been given clear indication that they have to give priority to Make in India and indigenisation and dependence on foreign source should be reduced.' 'Almost Rs 90,000 crores contracts have been signed during my tenure. Another almost Rs 70,000 crores are in the pipeline.'
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