360: Rafale deal is great, numbers not so

It is an excellent move to sign a G2G deal on the Rafale fighter aircraft but a ridiculous step if the government decides to restrict it to 36 jets, considering the size of the Indian Air Force, says former Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major (retd). The request for proposal for purchase of 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) was issued to six firms, including Dassault Aviation, when he was at the helm of affairs at IAF. Excerpts from an interview:

Q What are your views on the government-to-government deal for acquisition of Rafale fighter jets?
 We are adept at signing such deals as we have done it with the United States for the C-17 Globemaster and the C-130J Super Hercules. It means that the RFP (request for proposal) for MMRCA will become irrelevant, and be cancelled. But the government must make it clear about how many (Rafale jets) will finally be acquired. If that number is only 36, it will be ridiculous because the idea is not to have too many types of aircraft for the IAF. The plan of the IAF was to have frontline squadrons of Su-30, MMRCA, Tejas and the FGFA (fifth generation fighter aircraft).It will be a nightmare to maintain a diverse inventory of fighters along with their spares and the supply chain. If we stop at 36, will be have another aircraft to perform the role of MMRCA?   

Q But the Rafale was rejected by many countries, even a wealthy nation like Saudi Arabia.
 They could have rejected it for some reason or the other, but remember that the IAF adopted one of the most stringent selection processes to shortlist the Rafale and the Eurofighter Typhoon. The other countries rejected the Rafale fighters for reasons which we are not aware of.
 
Q And, acquiring these fighters off the shelf means no transfer of technology to Indian companies?
No country in the world will part with source codes and other strategic information as part of transfer of technology (ToT), but anything could happen if our government decides to acquire more of these fighters. If that happens, Dassault Aviation could select either a private enterprise or HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd) as it already has a good infrastructure and a number of private entities supplying thousands of components and subsystems. And whether it is HAL or the private player, they will have about two to three years to build the infrastructure before these 36 fighters arrive in India. Don't forget that a private player can get the best employee from anywhere in the world, and pay them well, which is not the case with HAL because it is a defence public sector undertaking. So more qualified employees means better quality and faster manufacture of fighters.

Q The defence minister says the IAF does not require a fleet of 42 squadrons, and could manage with fewer fighter jets because of better missile capability than in the past. Do you agree?
 Partly, yes, but the number of squadrons depends on the threat perception, the weapons of adversaries and many other aspects. If it is a scenario involving threats from two fronts, then we need 42 squadrons. Otherwise, with thirty nine and a half squadrons and the missiles, we could manage the threat. Now, we have only about 32 squadrons and that number must increase. There's no doubt about that (enhancing the number of squadrons).