After 26 Rafale-M fighters and 3 Scorpene submarines got selected for the Indian Navy, France is pinning its hopes on getting an order for the Indian Air Force’s fighter program and P75(I)

French aerospace major Safran will co-design critical jet engine technology, instead of focussing only on the transfer of existing technology, for India’s next generation of equipment as per its needs, according to Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Paris, it was announced that Safran has been selected for the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) that pipped the UK's Rolls Royce. However, India recently signed a deal with the US’ General Electric to purchase GE-F414 jet engines under a full transfer of technology arrangement.

“What SAFRAN is discussing is very different and we want to do it for many platforms. Rather than a transfer of existing technology, the aim is to co-design the technology that India will need for its next generation of equipment,” Lenain told a select group of journalists Tuesday.

He said, “SAFRAN proposes to work on engines for the fifth generation of aircraft fighters such as the AMCA. Depending on the sort of plane, weight, and power requirements – everything would be designed in order to fit India’s requirements. It’s like bespoke suits.”

The Ambassador added, “Moreover, through this process of co-development, India’s engineers would learn to master this technology, meaning that India would be fully autonomous for the following generation of technology. It also means that India can then export it in the future.”

According to him, such an unprecedented arrangement in critical defence technology is an outcome of the “trust” between our two countries. “Because we know that our partnership will remain strong 10, 20 years down the line,” he said.

Safran recently announced its plans to set up one of their largest MRO facilities in Hyderabad at GMR’s Aerospace and Industrial Park.

Rafale-M, Scorpene Deals To Be Negotiated

Despite selecting Rafale-Marine-(M) for India's aircraft carriers and three additional Scorpene submarines – both billion-dollar deals – their mention was dropped from the joint statement, Horizon 2047, giving rise to a kerfuffle on their status.

This was done because the deals are yet to be negotiated between the Ministry of Defence and Dassault Aviation, makers of Rafale as well as Naval Group, manufacturers of Scorpene submarines, according to sources in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

On July 13, the Defence Acquisition Council under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, granted Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for procurement of 26 Rafale Marine aircraft and three additional Scorpene submarines for the Navy.

According to another source, both these defence acquisitions were not mentioned in the joint statement because of the pending negotiations, which will now begin in terms of pricing and delivery schedule.

The roadmap for the next 25 years, the source said, will include various other future defence deals so it did not deem fit to mention the procurement of Rafale and Scorpene there.

“India has made it clear that it wants Rafale-M jets and Scorpene submarines and the decision has been announced. The roadmap (or the joint statement) agreed between India and France is not to announce defence deals,” the source added.

The source said France is also keen on having a follow-on order of Rafale fighter aircraft for the Indian Air Force under the long-pending $20 billion tender for 114 multirole fighter aircraft. The tender for Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) was issued by the IAF in April 2019 and it continues to remain a hotly contested one. Under the MRFA program, the IAF plans to procure the latest generation fighter planes.

MFRA is a revived version of the original Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) tender issued by the IAF in 2007 to procure 126 fighter planes from global manufacturers.

Dassault Aviation’s Rafale faces tough competition from Lockheed Martin’s F-21, Boeing’s F/A-18, Eurofighter’s Typhoon, SAAB’s Gripen E, apart from Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation and Sukhoi Corporation.

Naval Group already has a tie-up with Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd. under the P-75 program that led to the construction of six submarines for the Navy. The sixth submarine is soon going to be commissioned in the Navy’s fleet.