The government’s decision to purchase 36 Rafale combat jets from the French company Dassault Aviation in a fly away condition has dominated recent defence discourse. Many have expressed doubts over the government’s decision. But under the current circumstances in which the Indian Air Force finds itself in, an out of the box, bold political decision was the only way out of the logjam.
The saga for procurement of 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (M-MRCA) actually began in 2001, gathered steam in 2007 and was stuck in price negotiations for the past three years. Meanwhile, the IAF’s combat fighter jet strength was depleting fast. Over the past couple of years, the Air Force top brass was alarmed enough to tell the government that its conventional combat edge even against Pakistan was in danger of being lost.
So last week, hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on his three-nation tour, a political decision was taken to explore the option of buying Rafale jets through a government-to-government (G-to-G) contract with France. The breakthrough will now allow the IAF to induct Rafale fighter jets in a two year time frame and at least make up for its depleting combat jet strength.
However, it is the next step in aircraft procurement that will be watched intently. Will this decision of going for G-to-G mean that all future purchases of this magnitude will be handled in this manner? If so, what happens to the much-touted Make in India programme? The roadmap is not clear but Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar gave enough hints about what the government is thinking in an interview that this writer co-hosted on Monday for Doordarshan.
Lauding the Prime Minister for taking a bold decision in breaking the Rafale deadlock, Parrikar said future large procurements for the IAF and indeed for the armed forces at large, will have to be G-to-G but Make in India will also get a look in for other projects. For instance, if more Rafales, were to be bought--over and above 36 decided now--Dassault could be asked to manufacture them in India. Even if any other lighter aircraft was to be selected, the pre-condition will be a tie-up with an Indian company or consortium.
At the same time, the government is clear that important, strategic purchases cannot be left to bureaucratic decision-making. G-to-G in reality is not a new concept. For decades, India has been sourcing its fighters and ships from the erstwhile Soviet Union and later, Russia. The acquisition of two important strategic assets--the C-17 Globemaster and C-130J Hercules aircraft for the IAF--over the last decade has come through what the United States calls the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route which is nothing but an inter-government agreement between India and the United States.
Giving an assurance that the purchase of 36 Rafale jets would come at a cost lower than envisaged in the M-MRCA contract, Parrikar outlined in some detail the thinking in the MoD. The bottom line, according to him, is judicious use of available finite resources. There is also a likelihood of the cumbersome Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) being recast in coming months allowing some flexibility in weapons acquisition. In the current form, the DPP combined with an indecisive political leadership during the UPA-II regime, turned out to be more of an obstacle than a facilitator.
A decade-long impasse in defence acquisitions has been broken, raising renewed hope in the sector. It is now for the MoD and the armed forces to take advantage and build strength from here on.
(Nitin A. Gokhale is an analyst on National Security, Media Trainer and Author.)
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