French aircraft maker Dassault Aviation and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) have agreed to manufacture Rafale fuselages in India, shortly after India ordered 26 more Rafale combat aircraft.
“For the first time, Rafale fuselages will be produced outside France…. Thanks to the expansion of our local partners, including TASL, one of the major players in the Indian aerospace industry, this supply chain will contribute to the successful ramp-up of the Rafale, and, with our support, will meet our quality and competitiveness requirements,” Dassault chairman and CEO Eric Trappier said in a statement.
The two firms signed “four production transfer agreements to manufacture the Rafale fighter aircraft fuselage in India”. The fuselage is the body of an aircraft.
Dassault said: “Under the scope of the partnership, Tata Advanced Systems will set up a cutting-edge production facility in Hyderabad for the manufacture of key structural sections of the Rafale, including the lateral shells of the rear fuselage, the complete rear section, the central fuselage, and the front section.”
Last year, European aircraft maker Airbus tied up with TASL to set up a final assembly line (FAL) in Gujarat’s Vadodara to make 40 C295 military transport aircraft. Both firms are jointly setting up a FAL facility for Airbus H125 civil helicopters in Karnataka’s Kolar.
In April, France and India signed an inter-government agreement for 26 Rafales for the Indian Navy, to be delivered by 2030. The deal included technology transfer and setting up of a production facility for “Rafale fuselage as well as maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities for aircraft engine, sensors and weapons in India”.
In 2016, a deal to buy 36 Rafales, which were delivered by 2022, was mired in controversy. In 2018, former French President Francois Hollande revealed that India had offered Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence as an offset partner and that he “had no choice”.
The most recent controversy related to Indian aircraft broke out when Pakistan claimed that it had downed six Indian combat jets, including the Rafale, in the latest confrontation between the two nations. India, however, has not revealed the number of aircraft losses suffered in the conflict.
Chief of defence staff Gen. Anil Chauhan told Bloomberg TV last week: “What is important is not the jet being down, but why they were being down…. The good part is that we are able to understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, rectify it, and then implement it again after two days and flew all our jets, again targeting at long range with assets.”