This is undoubtedly one of the most scrutinized arms contracts of the year. India will soon announce which fighter jets it will equip its new aircraft carrier with. Since 2019, he hesitates between Dassault’s Rafale Marine and Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet to find out which one will replace the Russian Mig-29K.
The answer could be announced on July 14 with the visit to France of Narendra Modi, Indian Prime Minister who will be the guest of honor at the military parade. Spectators will also see three Indian Rafals flying over Paris and a contingent of 240 Indian soldiers from the army, air force and navy.
This visit comes on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the strategic partnership between France and India and the 74,000 Indian soldiers who died during the First World War. It could be the occasion for a strategic announcement.
Nothing is done, the subject remains taboo. But according to some experts, the planets would be perfectly aligned this time. The Indian contract could cover 26 Rafales, but also six additional Scorpene submarines.
A “dense and trusting” relationship
For the Rafales, France is one step ahead. In 2021, the Indian Navy found that the F-18 is too wide to fit through the elevators on the Indian aircraft carrier. Hard blow for Boeing, Dassault scores a point. Relations between the French manufacturer and India have been woven for many years with contracts for the Mirage III, Mirage 2000 and in 2016 the 36 Rafale for 8,000 million euros.
As for submarines, the program has been mentioned for at least 8 years and could resurface due to rising tensions with China in the Indo-Pacific, but perhaps also indirectly with the cancellation of the submarine contract with the ‘Australia. By creating the Aukus alliance with the United States and the United Kingdom, these countries excluded from this coalition seem to have become closer.
For General Patrik Steiger, head of the international security affairs department of the General Directorate of International Relations and Strategy (DGRIS), “the relationship with India has been a relationship at the highest level, dense and based on trust” for some time. many years. He takes as proof the last delivery of the Rafale in 2020 and 2022.
Source: BFM TV
