India finally signed the contract to acquire 36 Rafale. The type had been selected in April 2014 but negotiations dragged on as both sides could not agree on technology transfer and industrial offsets. It is the largest contract won by Dassault in its history, worth 7.8 billion euros. French journalist Jean-Dominique Merchet has provided the following breakdown (unconfirmed, note that final figure reaches 7.62 billion):
- 36 Rafale: 3.42 billion euros (95 million per aircraft)
- Modification for India: 1.72 billion euro.
- Weapons system (missiles): 710 million euros.
- Support and spare parts for 5 years: 1.79 billion euros.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) will receive 28 single seaters and 8 two seaters. First deliveries will take place in 18 months. Last ones in 67. Dassault will pay fines if the availability is below 75%. The price of a single seater is 91.07 million $, a two seater 94 million $. The contract does not contain an option for additional aircraft, but E. Trapier –CEO of Dassault- is confident that more will be sold in the future, as links with India develop. Spare and logistics can be negotiated for up to 50 years.
Ceremony (@manoharparrikar).
Indian Rafales will be more advanced than France’s. A towed decoy will be integrated. They will also be equipped with RWR, IRST, more powerful engines, low band jammers, 10 hour flight data recorder recording, helmet mounted sights and cold engine start capability in Leh. Weapons include Meteor and Scalp missiles. The loitering capability will be ×1.5 higher than Su-30MKI and will have significantly more range.
The warranty will last 2 years and can be extended to 5. The Rafales used for training will have an extra warranty for 60 hours. Maintenance is included for 5 years. Simulators are also included in the package. The offsets package is 50%; 305 corresponds to research project, and 20% for manufacturing Rafale components. Indian government estimates that the value of spare parts exported could reach 3.0 billion $.
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