The tender for purchase of 126 multi-role combat aircraft-- a deal which will run up to a staggering Rs 42,000 crore.
"It is a very good plane and is very widely used. It is a workhorse and it has been used for 40 years...it can really take off on a much shorter runway and India basically lacks this kind of an airplane," James Clad, the deputy assistant secretary of defence, said. India and the US will soon sign a major arms deal, with the government finally giving the nod for the purchase of the six C-130J aircraft at an estimated cost of Rs 4,000 crore.
French investigative journal Mediapart has made fresh claims that alleged bogus invoices were used that enabled French aircraft maker Dassault Aviation to pay at least 7.5 million euros in secret commissions to a middleman to help it secure the Rafale deal with India.
Six aviation majors are bidding for the Indian deal, which according to defence experts could run up to anything between six to eight billion dollars.
With this, Tata has now become the oldest Indian to fly the American-made aircraft. Tata, who holds a pilot's licence, had said the thought of the F-16 flight "excites me very much."
The IAF is taking these emergency measures in the wake of reports that its fighting squadron strength has plunged to a low of 39 squadrons and reports that Pakistan is on the threshold of buying more F-16 fighters from United States.
US armaments major Raytheon has said it is ready to supply to India the advanced active electronically scanned array radar, which has not been offered to Pakistan, for use with the F-16 and F-18 fighter jets.
The defence minister said the country was fully prepared to meet any military threat from Pakistan or elsewhere.
A high-level US defence team led by Lieutenant General Jeffrey B Kohler held marathon discussions on Thursday with top Indian Air Force officials and submitted detailed technical parameters.
The government is looking into the complaints about the procedure to determine the winner of the multi-billion dollar combat aircraft deal, Defence Minister A K Antony said on Thursday while admitting that there was no money to sign such a big deal in this fiscal.
The Rafale jet deal, signed on September 23, 2016, in the frame of an Inter-Governmental Agreement between India and France, has been in news over the last few months.
Notably, the IAF recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the IIT-Madras to develop indigenous solutions to maintain various weapon systems.
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.
Gandhi said he had made the statements in the heat of political campaigning which have been misused by his opponents.
The Congress urged Modi to come forward and order a JPC probe into the Rafale deal.
The latest avatar of the F-15 is designed to deal with the world's most potent air threats that are emerging from China.
After a decade-long wait, the IAF will transform 80 ageing Jaguar fighters into highly capable, multi-role, combat aircraft.
The plea also seeks details of comparative prices during UPA and NDA rule.
The BJP MP in her plea alleged that Gandhi has attributed his personal remarks to the top court and tried to create prejudice.
With increase in range and payload capability, Madhavan said the new variant will be much superior than Tejas Mark-IA, 73 of which are being procured by the Indian Air Force from the HAL under a Rs 48,000 crore deal that was approved by the government on January 13.
The first batch of four Rafale aircraft will arrive in India by May 2020.
Commissioned on December 14, 1974 in the fighter stream of the IAF, Raha has held various command, staff and instructional appointments in his 39-year-old career.
The situation that developed in eastern Ladakh last year required acclimatisation of a large number of IAF personnel and stretching of equipment to limits, but the force is "much better prepared" now in case there is a "long haul", Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari said on Thursday.
A fresh political war of words erupted on Tuesday over the Rafale issue as the Bharatiya Janata Party accused the Congress leadership of corruption citing claims of a French media report on 'commissions' being paid during the United Progressive Alliance rule and said the Indian National Congress should be renamed 'I Need Commission' party.
A Court of Inquiry into the incident has been ordered.
In his PIL, Sharma alleged discrepancies in the fighter jet deal with France and sought stay on it.
Expected to offer Gripen NG fighter aircraft or a possible joint collaboration in manufacturing single engine light combat planes.
Though Singh will receive the first of the 36 Rafale jets on Tuesday, the first batch of four aircraft will come to India only by May next year.
With the Navy ruling out deploying indigenously built Light Combat Aircraft Tejas on its aircraft carriers, Aeronautical Development Agency on Saturday said it was restricted only to Mark I which was a technology demonstrator and pinned hopes on Mark II for use by the Navy.
The fleet landed at Al Dhafra airbase on Monday in the United Arab Emirates after flying for over seven hours from the Merignac airbase. It was the only stopover by the jets while flying from France to India.
Swedish defence major Saab has offered to manufacture its fifth generation Gripen fighter aircraft in New Delhi with technology transfer to India.
The Indian Air Force has 31 fighter squadrons as against authorised strength of 42 squadrons.
The delivery of the jets -- capable of carrying a range of potent weapons and missiles -- is scheduled to begin from September next year.
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.
We are going to deliver 36 aircraft. If the government of India wants more aircraft, we will be pleased to deliver, he said.
'Anyone who should be worried about or critical about this new capability of the Indian Air Force, it should be those who want to threaten our territorial integrity'
Capable of flying at Mach 2.5 (two-and-a-half times the speed of sound), the F-15EX is the world's fastest fighter aircraft. It carries 13.5 tonnes of weapons load, more than the Rafale or the Sukhoi-30MKI.
While reserving the verdict, the apex court had said that the pricing details of Rafale jets could only be discussed after it decides on whether to make it public.
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