The historic defense agreement between France and India on the purchase of 114 Rafale fighters worth tens of billions of euros seems to have finally reached a dead end. This happened only a few months after the signing of this agreement. Regional media are already writing that New Delhi is threatening Paris to cancel negotiations on the purchase of aircraft, although for the air force of this country, receiving more than a hundred new fighters should be a significant increase in combat capabilities.
As Defense Security Asia reports, officials close to the Indian defense minister have made it clear that the condition of being able to freely integrate their own weapons and other systems into the aircraft is key to reaching a deal and is non-negotiable. For India, reaching an agreement on this point is more important than quickly concluding a contract.
Read more: India's 114-Rafale Order Pushes Back Ukraine's Fighter Jet Deliveries
Independence in the modernization of the aircraft is one of the conditions that corresponds to the Atmanirbhar Bharat program, which emphasizes that any defense deals should be accompanied by extensive involvement of the Indian defense industries and provide a high level of autonomy in maintaining the combat capability of the weapons over a long service life.
The publication notes that India requires access to the ICD (Interface Control Document), and not to the proprietary source code, but in any case France is against such a critical concession and it remains unclear how the parties can get out of this situation. At the same time, the French side is not against the integration of Indian weapons into Rafale fighters, but on condition that the French fully control all processes.
At the same time, France is critical of such conditions. First of all, because it loses the opportunity to sell more Rafale services to India in the future and generally sets a precedent. But also important is the fact that New Delhi is a "friendly" country to Moscow, so there are risks that the russian federation may gain access to the Rafale software code. And this is already a very alarming bell for all current operators of these fighters as well as future buyers.
The publication notes that India requires access to the ICD (Interface Control Document), and not to the proprietary source code, but in any case France is against such a critical concession and it remains unclear how the parties can get out of this situation. At the same time, the French side is not against the integration of Indian weapons into Rafale fighters, but on condition that the French fully control all processes.
It is worth recalling that the Indians have previously complained that maintaining the existing number of Rafale fighters is an expensive pleasure precisely because France refuses to provide the source code, and have threatened measures that would allow them to do without the French in resolving this issue.
For Ukraine, which also has plans to purchase 100 Rafale for the Air Force, delays with the Indian contract will mean the opportunity to get in line earlier and, accordingly, receive the aircraft faster.
Earlier, Defense Express reported that France Bet on Rafale F5 Instead of Buying F4, Opened New Options for Ukraine. We also wrote, that France Pressured Greece on Mirage 2000-5 Transfer to Ukraine With Rafale Discount Deal.
Read more: France Hands India the Keys to Build 114 Rafales, Is Dassault Creating Its Own Competition?
