80 Rafale or 114 other MRCA !? As talks with France fails on price tag of Rafale jet

Source : IgMp Bureau

Dassault Rafale

As per latest media reports, no headway has been made to get France convinced to reduce the price for the proposed 114 Made in India Rafale fighter jets.

While on the other hand the Indian Air Force has already made it clear that it wants either 80 more Rafale aircraft or 114 units of completely new aircraft.

The Defense Ministry is keen to look at other alternatives due to high cost associated with the French aircraft.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) had recently ordered 80 Rafale aircraft and 12 military helicopters at 19 billion dollars which means that 80 Made in India Rafale aircraft would cost more than 20 billion dollars due to transfer of technology and other taxes for components.

The United States has recently sold 36 Boeing F-15EX aircraft as part of a 13.9 billion dollar deal to Indonesia which only proves that the Rafale competition is also not cheap.

The only viable and cheaper option available on offer under MRCA tender, is the Swedish Gripen-E fighter with same weapons package that French Rafale offers.

The $4.7 billion contract signed in 2014 between Brazil and Sweden for the Gripen jets included not only the procurement cost of the first 36 aircraft but also a high degree of technology transfer and industrial investments for assembly and parts production in Brazil.

And Brazil currently operating all the 36 Gripen jets with high degree of indigenous components and Sweden has done a great job in transferring technology field.