Dassault's Hesitancy on ToT for Rafale May Further Delay India's MRFA Program

India's ambitious plans for acquiring 114 Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) under a new "Make in India" policy may face challenges due to the reluctance of Dassault Aviation, the maker of the Rafale fighter jet, to comply with technology transfer requirements.

The Indian government's new policy mandates that the chosen aircraft for the MRFA program not only be purchased but also fully manufactured within India. This shift in policy signifies a strong push for self-reliance in the defence sector.

Despite the Rafale being a frontrunner in previous MRFA bids and India's ongoing procurement of the aircraft, Dassault's hesitation to share critical technology for local production could be a major hurdle. This is despite the fact that Dassault is experiencing a surge in export orders for the Rafale, with a backlog exceeding 200 units.

The new MRFA policy aims to establish a robust domestic aerospace industry, going beyond mere assembly to include full production and technology transfer. This is in line with the government's "Atmanirbhar Bharat" (self-reliant India) initiative.

However, Dassault's reluctance could lead to potential delays in the MRFA acquisition timeline. Other contenders for the contract, including Boeing, SAAB, Lockheed Martin, Russia's MiG, and the Eurofighter Typhoon, may now have an advantage if they are more willing to meet the new policy's stringent requirements.

This situation presents a complex challenge for India, as it seeks to balance its immediate need for fighter jets with its long-term goal of developing a self-sufficient defence industry. The outcome of this negotiation with Dassault and other potential vendors will be crucial in determining the future of India's MRFA program and its broader aspirations for self-reliance in defence.

It remains to be seen how this impasse will be resolved, but it is clear that the stakes are high for both Dassault and India. The successful implementation of the MRFA program is crucial for India's national security, and Dassault's willingness to adapt to the new policy could determine its continued involvement in the Indian defence market.

 

[Tls Mani]

For US & west Europe TOT, Sanctions, fake Human rights & press freedom & local traitors etc are the problems that they bring at different stages to thwart any project. Better stick with traditional Russians eventhough they may not be best but worth the money & commitment. Our national interest should be the focus as we have criminal Jihadi & expansionist hegemonistic Chinese as neighbour's.

 

[wallisk]

which company will do tech transfer just for sake of 36 to 100+ fighter aircraft...
if we have enough money try to buy dassault or buy 49/51 % stake (sure french or usa politicians will not allow it)... OR just be pure customer without conjjucy of technology...

Post tech transfer as if Indians are innocent, wont they try to compete with original vendor themselves in other country fighter aircraft markets ?

ONLY RAC-MIG will give for MIG35 but at HUGE costs of perhaps even 110 millions usd per jet might be so...

 

[wallisk]

Any company that doesnt agree to tech transfer should be shown the door. We need numbers and tech transfer. There are multiple companies. Typhoon, f15ex all are good planes.

And ideally we should tell the hal to rollout the mk2 and amca asap.10 yrs is too long a time for development.

Then all except Saab and RAC-MIG will remain in MRFA as USA, EuroGmBh Sukhoi will NEVER allowed 100% ToT's..

 

[wallisk]

Better to expedite Tejas MK2 and AMCA, set quarterly milestones and track them meticulously. Go for ~36 more Rafales to meet requirements till the time MK2 doesn't enter production.

How expedite when HAL can make only 4 Tejas MK1 or MK1A jets per year....?? That is why the main reasons why IAF asked for MRFA!!

 

[Snapper Snap]

Our foolish establishment is still hoping engine technology will be given easily... Instead open up Kaveri engine to private sector.. We can have 6 th Gen engines ASAP involve pvt sector they will address this within few months.

 

[Pad UwU]

I am sure about tejas mk2, but not sure about amca.

See we are same in opinion 😺👍

 

[Anant]

If the French are unwilling to transfer technology, they should be disqualified from MRFA. As simple as that. ToT is a requirement. You either conform to it, or you offer alternatives for a compromise, or you simply don't get the contract. As simple as that.

Oh, and this news, if true, could also be a harbinger of what might happen in the engine co-development project. We need to tread carefully.

 

[Pad UwU]

Indian People consider France a good friend. But their media houses which we dont see here in India do heavy propaganda , often more than bbc. They are not friendly. They dont do tech transfers, even in scorpene case they even denied our engineers any type of file in our own mdl shipyard. They leaked the indian submarine documents to whole world. So, no country is our true friend in defence. This blind faith towards any country should be discarded. Indian govt should invest heavily in defence rnd.

Oh so that's why Australia got mad and ditch the french submarine deal and paid the penalty instead of continuing the deal🙀.... Meh, even I have relatives in Canada, their not keen on French speaking people in Canada especially because their too much reclusive and a more racist than the British origin people...

so what do think about the British (Celtic Germanic) folks and French (Celtic) dudes... Who do you think more reliable and not racist?

 

[vasu gali]

Perhaps Saab gripen E or SU 57 with 100℅TOT would be the better option

 

[John Meadows]

This is what happen when you hastily cancel the mrca and went for shopping.

 

[Radha Ramanan]

nobody seems to understand that making the rafale here even if they part with the tech would be no brainer as it would be more than double the price per fighter bought out right. we dont have the trained tech man power, very high tolerant CNC machines, workmanship to western standards and many more.
A good example is the su-30mki.. it costs us nearly 75 mill$ to make one in India whereas u can buy it of the shelf for around 45 mill$. Making a soviet fighter is not that great a task given their crude tolerances. But the rafale is a semi steal fighter where great attention was paid to lower the RCS.
will we part with the hard earned tech and production technology for the LCA? i guess not. ie aesa radar, FBW software ??

 

[AK S]

How expedite when HAL can make only 4 Tejas MK1 or MK1A jets per year....?? That is why the main reasons why IAF asked for MRFA!!

Because Govt and IAF only paid for 5 hangars in LCA division. 3 more from legacy Kiran hangars. With this infra and a DPSU, expecting more is unrealistic.

This is set to change … 8 more hangars in LCA division will start rolling out Mk1A this fiscal. About 8 Su30MkI hangars in Nashik is also being repurposed and should start roll out by this fiscal. My estimate is Nashik roll out will take longer than this fiscal. All in all, by next fiscal HAL will deliver 20+ Tejas annually.

 

[Indrakumar Salam]

Buy some off the shelf to replenish squadron strength without any tech transfer and use the saved money in R and D of Tejas mark 2 and Amca.

 

[PANDI RAJ]

We need those jets as fast as possible and if we going for USA. Ask for f35 only.. Or else buy 4 squad of rafale or su 35 or 57 with TOT and we need our production line to be up.. Mk1 won't serve much we need amca atleast mk2 version of tejas for stability

 

[wallisk]

nobody seems to understand that making the rafale here even if they part with the tech would be no brainer as it would be more than double the price per fighter bought out right. we dont have the trained tech man power, very high tolerant CNC machines, workmanship to western standards and many more.
A good example is the su-30mki.. it costs us nearly 75 mill$ to make one in India whereas u can buy it of the shelf for around 45 mill$. Making a soviet fighter is not that great a task given their crude tolerances. But the rafale is a semi steal fighter where great attention was paid to lower the RCS.
will we part with the hard earned tech and production technology for the LCA? i guess not. ie aesa radar, FBW software ??

Right now ONLY 2 viable options are there i.e., RAC-MIG MIG35 with 100% ToT's make in India- with all DRDO-BEL AESA radars fbw computers displays avionics and EW SPJ systems. And also, build using NAL-HAL developed latest polymer composites 95% of MIG35-i airframe for lowest RCS. Can pay MBDA and integrate Meteors also to Uttam AESA radar for this MIG35i next...
Other option would be to co-develop Saab Gripen-E similar to the MIG35i as mentioned above; by removing ALL European-USA makes of avionics radars etc. Only 80% ToT's of GE-F414 engines are the hurdles here...
BUT however, both of above options will invlove time and funds for the redevelopment process of these jets..

 

[Sarang Ingle]

Good I would be happy if we get the f15ex in a heartbeat or.... I'm also okay at least if got the EFT or Saab Gripen e/d as long there's something acceptable 60~80% tech transfer but it would be lovely if the can give 100% of it or just form JV

But sir, we do already have the Su-30MKIs, the equivalent to the F15s. Don't you think the Typhoon would be a better alternativeto the Rafales?

 

[De_SECULARISED]

Throw the money meant for MRFA ~Rafael to build a production line to produce 24 LCA MK2 fighters/year will be best bet for now.

 

[sanket]

If dassault wont play ball, then pick boeing F/A 18, or F15 and give the naval order to boeing too.

Boeing has already shown its commitment to localisation. Factories in India build parts for all of Boeing's Apache helicopters, globally, even though we bought so few. Also, we build parts for the civilian boeing aircrafts too.

India done well by buying Only 36 Rafale in MMRCA, it was Indian order which started order flow for Dassault.Earlier it was Mirage-2000 Deal which was having costly upgrade package Time to show Mirror to Dassault if they fail to meet MRFA Requirement.options are available in MRFA.

 

[kumar]

Going after foreign m@@l and this is bound to happen. Focus our funding and energies on atmanirbharatha programmes and for gods sake release funding on time. First change defence minister and put someone who is proactive. Let him clean up the system starting from armed forces.

 

[AK S]

nobody seems to understand that making the rafale here even if they part with the tech would be no brainer as it would be more than double the price per fighter bought out right. we dont have the trained tech man power, very high tolerant CNC machines, workmanship to western standards and many more.
A good example is the su-30mki.. it costs us nearly 75 mill$ to make one in India whereas u can buy it of the shelf for around 45 mill$. Making a soviet fighter is not that great a task given their crude tolerances. But the rafale is a semi steal fighter where great attention was paid to lower the RCS.
will we part with the hard earned tech and production technology for the LCA? i guess not. ie aesa radar, FBW software ??

It’s a lame justification. Let them do the transfer. Later we will deal with the absorption part of it. Problem is ToT.

TOT absorption might be a thing of the past. We are making/targetting lot more sophisticated products requiring much higher precision eg AMCA manufacturing will require precisions higher than Rafale. Add to it GE F414. So are you suggesting we should abandon them.