Rafale DH/EH of Indian Air Force : News and Discussions

Whatever decision we take today, it will take 4-5 years to accomplish, so the Rafale F4.2 will be ready long before that. The MRFA process itself will take 7 years to finish at the current pace before the IAF starts flying whatever comes out of it. We are talking about post 2027 with MRFA, not 2022-23.



It's no delusion and it's not the French saying it...

People don't realise that none of our current aircraft can go anywhere inside China until the Rafales have sanitised that area. And all of our other aircraft have to operate within that area unless they want to die. The Chinese air defences are no joke, even the US is taking them seriously.
None of our aircraft go anywhere inside china at any point of time, even after the so called sanitization by rafale. Not even F15 or MKI is capable to do that. You need a strategic bomber to do that job.
 
With the F4.2, there's two ways to go about it. One would be to buy 114 of them through MRFA and they will become available only after 2027. The other would be to go for them as the next batch of 36. Place an order in 2021 and receive F4.2s from 2024, which is the quickest method.

The jury's still out on how capable the J-20C will really be. The F4.2's electronics will most likely be superior to anything the Chinese will conjure up within that time, we know the French are obviously ahead there. Whether performance and Rafale's active cancellation capabilities will keep up, we will have to wait and see.

But in either case, Rafale's going to have to be the future for us. None of the other MRFA contenders, including the F-15 are on par with what's coming. The F-15EX that's still 3 years away from series production isn't even better than the Rafale F3R, whereas the world's moving on to a higher grade of capability in the post 2025 world with the Rafale F4.2, J-20C, Su-57 Mk2, F-22 MLU, PCA, NGAD etc. The F-15, SH, MKI, Su-35 etc have no place in such a world except as second-rung fighter jets that can operate only in uncontested airspace.
If I have made posts as favourable to the Rafale as yours, everyone would think it's because I'm French and therefore I have a bias in favour of the Rafale. I fully agree with what you say, but there is such a bashing of the Rafale by the Anglo-Saxons, who have very powerful media, that it is hard to tell the truth while appearing objective.
 
If I have made posts as favourable to the Rafale as yours, everyone would think it's because I'm French and therefore I have a bias in favour of the Rafale. I fully agree with what you say, but there is such a bashing of the Rafale by the Anglo-Saxons, who have very powerful media, that it is hard to tell the truth while appearing objective.

The main problem is most people are either unaware or unwilling to believe French EW capabilities. So they assume Rafale is just another advanced 4.5th gen fighter jet. People also make the mistake of assuming all AESA radars or AESA-based EW suites are the same.

Then there's vested interests. Look at the Bharat Karnard article...
But how the IAF means to actually obtain air dominance with just 36 of these aircraft is a mystery. Sure, Rafales working in tandem with Su-30MKIs can plausibly achieve this objective as former Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa stated, but by themselves even twice this number of Rafales in Indian colours cannot. But, as the late defence minister Manohar Parrikar was convinced, larger numbers of Su-30s would alone have sufficed for the purpose.

He's completely clueless about the capabilities of the Rafale.

And of course...
When reminded by a pesky French journo that such a follow-up deal clashes head-on with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘atm nirbharta’ policy and the thrust of Rajnath Singh’s ‘negative list’ thinking, Madame Parly dissembled but did not budge from her stand, indirectly hinting that such a deal would be signed for the same reason the original was approved in April 2015: Modi will agree to buy ’em. End of argument!

...he obviously doesn't know that the next batch of Rafales can be assembled in India if necessary.

But I'd also blame Dassault and co for poor advertising. The English media is largely against Rafale because most of the Rafale advertisements are either in French, like the Revellin-Falcoz interview about Rafale's RCS, or the advertising is aimed at people who are not laymen thus complicating understanding. For example, no one in civilian circles understand the concept of real-time 3D SAR maps. Otoh, Saab's advertisement about Gripen E is entirely directed towards laymen, ("Look, our fighter can turn almost invisible to radar with next gen advanced EA) which is why you keep reading articles about how it's going to be more advanced than the F-35 or is a sixth gen fighter etc, even though Rafale's been doing the same since the last 15 years.

When the customer (ACM Dhanoa's interview) has to defend the Rafale's purchase due to France's poor communication with the media, then you know Dassault and co require a significant overhaul in public relations. They need to start making simple advertisements in English, primarily based on easy-to-understand CGI with capabilities that make the Rafale special and relevant for the future.
 
For once he is right. From the very first day we catered for minimum four squadrons plus some more for TACDE and ASTE. so the additional order will be for 44 more if we go for 18 aircraft/sqn. Balance 8 going to the other two establishments.

Would actually make sense to go for 48, with 4 more single seat in reserve. The reserve component of 1+1 is too less. It will at least give a proper 3 aircraft reserve.
 
Article doesn’t appear to be balanced. Looks like Mr Karnad hates Rafale more than I hate Pakistan !!
He's a sell out to Russia. If you've been reading all these experts over a period of time you'd be able to track their loyalties fairly easily. Like Praveen Sawhney is sold out to China. And he's the editor of Force Magazine too - the Indian version of Jane's for want of a better comparison , most of whose subscriptions come from the armed forces, ex armed forces personnel, foreign policy establishment, the home office establishment, other govt arms, etc.

At least that's not the case with Karnad. He's a hawk like Chellaney on China. His grasp over technical matters is weak but his hold over geostrategic affairs is good & worth reading.
 
Would actually make sense to go for 48, with 4 more single seat in reserve. The reserve component of 1+1 is too less. It will at least give a proper 3 aircraft reserve.
M2K squadrons have 16 aircraft/sqn and if we follow the same fleet UE for Rafale, we get five squadrons of Rafale for 80 Rafales. My personal opinion is that we will order 54 more.
 
The main problem is most people are either unaware or unwilling to believe French EW capabilities. So they assume Rafale is just another advanced 4.5th gen fighter jet. People also make the mistake of assuming all AESA radars or AESA-based EW suites are the same.

Then there's vested interests. Look at the Bharat Karnard article...
But how the IAF means to actually obtain air dominance with just 36 of these aircraft is a mystery. Sure, Rafales working in tandem with Su-30MKIs can plausibly achieve this objective as former Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa stated, but by themselves even twice this number of Rafales in Indian colours cannot. But, as the late defence minister Manohar Parrikar was convinced, larger numbers of Su-30s would alone have sufficed for the purpose.

He's completely clueless about the capabilities of the Rafale.

And of course...
When reminded by a pesky French journo that such a follow-up deal clashes head-on with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘atm nirbharta’ policy and the thrust of Rajnath Singh’s ‘negative list’ thinking, Madame Parly dissembled but did not budge from her stand, indirectly hinting that such a deal would be signed for the same reason the original was approved in April 2015: Modi will agree to buy ’em. End of argument!

...he obviously doesn't know that the next batch of Rafales can be assembled in India if necessary.

But I'd also blame Dassault and co for poor advertising. The English media is largely against Rafale because most of the Rafale advertisements are either in French, like the Revellin-Falcoz interview about Rafale's RCS, or the advertising is aimed at people who are not laymen thus complicating understanding. For example, no one in civilian circles understand the concept of real-time 3D SAR maps. Otoh, Saab's advertisement about Gripen E is entirely directed towards laymen, ("Look, our fighter can turn almost invisible to radar with next gen advanced EA) which is why you keep reading articles about how it's going to be more advanced than the F-35 or is a sixth gen fighter etc, even though Rafale's been doing the same since the last 15 years.

When the customer (ACM Dhanoa's interview) has to defend the Rafale's purchase due to France's poor communication with the media, then you know Dassault and co require a significant overhaul in public relations. They need to start making simple advertisements in English, primarily based on easy-to-understand CGI with capabilities that make the Rafale special and relevant for the future.
It's not limited to the rafale most French weapons even though extremely capable aren't marketed as such. The same thing happened with MBT LeClerc and even mirage 2000. The French are just too uptight when it comes to marketing. And they have a propaganda department as bad as India's..
 
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Article doesn’t appear to be balanced. Looks like Mr Karnad hates Rafale more than I hate Pakistan !!
Karnad is like the rest of the defense experts who support amreeki/russi weapons. But instead of peddling the best aircraft (f-15ex😉) they are on the payroll of lockheed Martin and support the f16 . Same for Abhijit Iyer mitra ,Brahma chelleney and others all on LMT payroll. Then you have SuSwami who was backing the eurofighter. It's all lobbying..
 
Looks like Mr Karnad hates Rafale more than I hate Pakistan !!
He does, that's why I said he was very persistent!

If you go through his blog's history to look for other articles about the Rafale, you probably won't find any that puts the aircraft in a positive light.
 
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M2K squadrons have 16 aircraft/sqn and if we follow the same fleet UE for Rafale, we get five squadrons of Rafale for 80 Rafales. My personal opinion is that we will order 54 more.

True. If I recall correctly, both the Pune MKI squadrons are also 16 each. Then it's likely that with a total of 72 jets, we will end up with 4 squadrons of 16 each and the remaining 8 could go to ASTE and TACDE.

I think the numbers can definitely go beyond 36 if the delivery schedule is compressed. I mean, if IAF sticks to taking in only 11 per year, then the new contract will also take 6 years to finish after signature. By then MRFA will be in the post-contract stage, so there won't be a need to go for a number beyond 36.

The quickest contract will be for 36 more with the same configuration, the slowest will be if there are changes in numbers or configuration.
 
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It's not limited to the rafale most French weapons even though extremely capable aren't marketed as such. The same thing happened with MBT LeClerc and even mirage 2000. The French are just too uptight when it comes to marketing. And they have a propaganda department as bad as India's..

French weapons are expensive, mainly because they are very advanced and the numbers made are small. So only countries that want a strategic relationship with France or have enemies that they have to face on their own will buy French weapons. Considering that, their advertisement is adequate, since it's aimed at those people.

But that doesn't help them deal with controversies, especially when civilians get involved. Three recent examples with Rafale would be Brazil, Switzerland and India. All three had unique controversies which involved civilians in different ways, and the French were unprepared to deal with all three situations. In all three situations, only their respective air forces could speak up for the French. That's not a good situation to be in.
 
French weapons are expensive, mainly because they are very advanced and the numbers made are small. So only countries that want a strategic relationship with France or have enemies that they have to face on their own will buy French weapons. Considering that, their advertisement is adequate, since it's aimed at those people.

But that doesn't help them deal with controversies, especially when civilians get involved. Three recent examples with Rafale would be Brazil, Switzerland and India. All three had unique controversies which involved civilians in different ways, and the French were unprepared to deal with all three situations. In all three situations, only their respective air forces could speak up for the French. That's not a good situation to be in.
The only reason behind the exorbitant price tag of french weapons are, the demand is less. simple mathematics, oem has to incorporate the R&D cost with limited production units. The chanting like french stuffs are superior & superior items comes with high price is just absurd when you compares with the f35 or JDAM.
Dont tell that french hammer is superior to JDAM since later is pure glide bomb & earlier one is powered one, designing a pure unpowered glide bomb is more intricate than a powered bomb unit.
 
The product has to meet the needs of 6th Gen fighter.

It's unlikely to be more advanced than what's going on the Tempest though.

The fan design will be Indian and the afterburner will be Indo-Brit. Since India will own the IP for the core and the rest of the engine, there's no way the Brits will be sharing the more advanced technologies being designed for Tempest.