BENGALURU: French aircraft maker Dassault Aviation on Wednesday said the Indian order for 36 Rafale fighters was a “bit small,” hoping it would swell to around 200 warplanes over the next decade. The firm has factored in an upcoming naval aviation programme to arrive at the figure.
Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier said a bigger order would ensure that transfer of technology was meatier and would position the country as a high-end manufacturing hub under the Make in India initiative. “Thirty six is a good number to start with but we need to build on that foundation. It is not big enough for transfer of technology,” Trappier told a select group of journalists at Aero India-2017. “We are pushing for more orders. We are aware of the Indian military’s requirements and additional orders could come,” he added.
India and France signed the $8.7-billion Rafale deal on September 23, 2016. The jets, equipped with latest weapons and tailored for Indian needs, will be delivered between 2019 and 2022. IAF fighter pilots and technicians will head to France in 2018 to train on the Rafale. The IAF has also cautioned that the 36 fighters are not enough to check the erosion of its strength.
Trappier said Rafale was a strong competitor for an Indian programme to build twin-engine fighters in the country. He said Dassault would also compete for an order to supply 57 carrierborne fighters to Indian Navy. “It makes better sense to equip the IAF and the navy with the same platform as it means good logistics, maintenance and industrial support,” he said. US giant Boeing will also compete for the naval programme with its F-18 Super Hornet.
The IAF’s Rafale fighters will be equipped with European missile maker MBDA’s Meteor beyond visual range missiles. MBDA CEO Antoine Bouvier told HT the missile’s no-escape zone was three to four times greater than other missiles. MBDA has formed a joint venture with Larsen & Toubro to take part in upcoming missile programmes under the Make in India plan. “This is MBDA’s first JV outside Europe. We are willing to transfer most sensitive missile technologies,” Bouvier said. Dassault Aviation has forged a joint venture with billionaire Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence for carrying out its offset obligations bundled with the Rafale deal. Ambani flew in a Rafale fighter at the airshow, pulling 6G during the 35-minute sortie.
India launches 104 satellites, beats Russia
RIHARIKOTA (ANDHRA PRADESH): India on Wednesday created a world record by successfully putting into orbit 104 satellites, including the country’s own Cartosat-2earth observation satellite, in a single mission.
With the launch, ISRO surpassed the 37 satellite launch record set by a Russian rocket on June 19, 2014.
The co-passenger satellites comprised 101 nano satellites, one each from Israel, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the UAE and 96 from the US, as well as two nano satellites from India.
The total weight of all the satellites carried on-board is about 1,378 kg. Multiple satellite launches with a PSLV rocket is not new for ISRO, having launched 20 satellites on June 22, 2016.
“One hundred and four satellites have been put into orbit,” Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman AS Kiran Kumar said soon after the launch, congratulating the space agency’s team on its success.
Exactly at 9.28 am the PSLV-XL variant rocket standing 44.4 metres tall and weighing 320 tonnes tore into the morning skies with fierce orange flames at its tail. Gathering speed every second, the rocket raced towards the heavens amid the cheers of the ISRO officials and the media team assembled at the rocket port here.
President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Sonia Gandhi congratulated ISRO on the success. Science and Technology minister Harsh also congratulated the ISRO.
At the rocket mission control room, ISRO scientists were glued to their computer screens watching the rocket escaping the earth’s gravitational pull.
Around 28 minutes into the flight, the rocket completed its birth ‘karma’ slinging all the 104 satellites into their intended orbits as per the scheduled sequence.