India rejects Dassault bid for MRCA

**sohamsri** · 16 Apr 09,, 13:50

NEW DELHI -- India has rejected an offer by France's Dassault Aviation SA to sell its Rafale fighter jets to the Indian Air Force, which is seeking to buy 126 combat aircraft in a deal estimated to be worth more than $10 billion, a senior defense ministry official said Thursday.

"We have canceled their bid," the official, who didn't want to be named, told Dow Jones Newswires. "There were some shortcomings," the official added, declining to elaborate.

The Rafale was in competition with Boeing's F/A-18, Lockheed Martin's F-16 Falcon, MIG-35 of Russian Aircraft Corp.'s MiG, Saab AB's JAS-39 Gripen and the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Dassault Aviation executives couldn't be reached immediately for comment.

The companies had placed their bids in April last year.

http://online.wsj.com/article/business.html

**sohamsri** · 16 Apr 09,, 13:52

Can anyone confirm this ?
The Flight Evaluation Tests haven't even begun yet, how can they reject the bid ?

**sohamsri** · 16 Apr 09,, 14:16

Another link :
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssI...00273620090416

The reporters seems to have been informed by an Indian defence ministry spokesman.

I'm going to drink in sadness.

**Robin Bingo** · 16 Apr 09,, 14:48

Originally Posted by sohamsri

I'm going to drink in sadness.

were you cheering for the Rafale?..it was indeed a very good fighter and i expected it to give good competition to the other contenders but i really want the mig-35 to win the bid.

**sohamsri** · 16 Apr 09,, 14:52

Indian Express can't get it wrong.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/fr...ighter/447745/

**jlvfr** · 16 Apr 09,, 15:45

"Rafale did not meet the usual requirement," the spokesman told Reuters.

been rejected at the technical evaluation stage for failing to meet minimum performance requirements that had been detailed in the tender document

This is seriously seriously weird. What possible requirements could these be?!

No ofense, but I smell politics at work...

**bolo121** · 16 Apr 09,, 15:51

Actually i think they meant minimum bribe requirement.
Maybe they didn't splurge as much as the others on the defense ministry officials?

**Robin Bingo** · 16 Apr 09,, 15:59

Originally Posted by bolo121

Actually i think they meant minimum bribe requirement.

)

**Mohan** · 16 Apr 09,, 16:00

Guys there would be a genuine reason i think because this deal is closely watched by everybody I mean media and all. Lets wait and see

**Steezy** · 16 Apr 09,, 16:08

Eurofighter Typhoon seems like the shiniest of the aircraft in that list. The F-18 (Super Hornet) seems to be abit old and is mainly carrier based. The F-16 and Gripen only has one engine. The Mig-35 isn't even real (yet), from a biased standpoint, the Typhoon would be the best bet

Not that I know much, but I'd say for the US entry they should've gone with the F-15 SE

**jlvfr** · 16 Apr 09,, 16:41

Originally Posted by Steezy

The F-18 (Super Hornet) seems to be abit old and is mainly carrier based. The F-16 and Gripen only has one engine.

IMHO, the Rafale is superior to these planes in one or more areas, which is why I smell "politics".

And what is the Typhoon doing here? Isn't it a bit big for this program?

**jackprince** · 16 Apr 09,, 17:54

Originally Posted by jlvfr

And what is the Typhoon doing here? Isn't it a bit big for this program?

If you mean size-wise, it is smaller than Sh and Mig-35, both. If money wise, it is HUGE.

**sohamsri** · 16 Apr 09,, 18:14

Originally Posted by bolo121

Actually i think they meant minimum bribe requirement.
Maybe they didn't splurge as much as the others on the defense ministry officials?

)

)

On a serious note,
The IAF is more than happy with the Mirage, I wonder why they would suddenly discard its evolution.

**outofshdw** · 17 Apr 09,, 05:26

According to the source that I read,

Though reasons for rejecting Rafale was not revealed, sources indicated that the high cost of the aircraft was one of the factors.

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1248333

Let's face it, if the Indian Air Force wants to buy a fleet of 126 warplanes, they are going to need an affordable design. That means that the Typhoon will probably be the next to go.

We'll have to wait and see.

**Kommunist** · 17 Apr 09,, 05:45

Originally Posted by outofshdw

According to the source that I read,

Though reasons for rejecting Rafale was not revealed, sources indicated that the high cost of the aircraft was one of the factors.

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1248333

Let's face it, if the Indian Air Force wants to buy a fleet of 126 warplanes, they are going to need an affordable design. That means that the Typhoon will probably be the next to go.

We'll have to wait and see.

That is pure BS IMO, cos if cost was a factor, EF would not be in the bidders list

EF 2000 - GB£68.9mil/€77.7mil/US$102.532mil
Rafale C - €64 million/US$82.3mil

I have doubts regarding the credibility and bias of the source