India has moved closer to acquiring 114 Rafale fighter jets after the Defence Procurement Board granted initial approval, including mandatory access to the aircraft’s source code. The proposal will now go to the Defence Acquisition Council.
New Delhi: The Defence Procurement Board (DPB), headed by Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, has granted initial approval for the acquisition of 114 Rafale fighter jets from French defence major Dassault Aviation, including access to the aircraft’s source code. The proposal will now be placed before the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, for Acceptance of Necessity (AoN), the formal first step in the procurement process.
Subsequently, the deal will require clearance from the Cost Negotiation Committee before being submitted to the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for final approval.
As part of this process, the defence ministry sources said that the transfer of the aircraft’s source code will be a non-negotiable clause in any future deal.
“Integration of radar, electronic warfare suites and weapons systems will be done by the Indians only and there will be no requirement of assistance from the French side,” sources added.
“The source code access is crucial because it allows a nation to integrate its own weapons systems, sensors, secure data links and mission software into the fighter jet’s avionics and combat system without dependency on the original manufacturer.”
Sources clarified that the procurement of 114 Rafale fighters will not impact indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programmes, including the Mk2 and the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), as Asianet Newsable English reported earlier.
They added that the per-unit cost of the upgraded French-origin fighter would be significantly lower than in the 2016 deal and cheaper than the same variant acquired by countries such as Türkiye, Germany, and Italy.
Comparison with other international purchases
In the recent past, countries such as Germany, Türkiye, and Italy have purchased the Eurofighter Typhoon.
Türkiye acquired 20 Eurofighter jets along with associated equipment for €7 billion, while Germany purchased 20 aircraft for €3.75 billion.
Italy also procured 20 Eurofighters for €7.5 billion.
“On average, the cost per aircraft is estimated at €120–150 million, and when weapons and other accessories are included, the total cost rises to around €250 million per aircraft,” sources said.
The original cost of the deal was $18 billion. However, the sources said that it would now be $35.84 billion.
India and France are hoping to conclude a deal for the jets in February when a meeting is scheduled between Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron.