NEW DELHI, Feb 19 (Reuters) – France and India are entering a new era of defense cooperation and plan to jointly produce Rafale fighter jets and helicopters, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday, adding that France also hoped to sell more submarines to India.
Macron told reporters at the end of a three-day visit to India that India’s expected order for 114 more Rafale fighter jets was a “new step forward” in defense relations between the two countries, and that France also hoped to see the order replicated for submarines.
“With Rafale, what we want to do is expand. India confirmed a few days ago that it is willing to command a batch of new Rafale aircraft… 114… and co-produce them in India,” Macron said.
Months after the worst fighting between India and Pakistan in decades, the Defense Acquisition Council of the Indian Ministry of Defense last week gave preliminary approval to purchase 114 more Rafale fighter jets for the air force, in addition to other aircraft and missiles.
So far, India has purchased 36 Rafale fighter jets for its air force and ordered an additional 26 naval versions of the fighter jets for its navy.
Details of the Rafale deal, including joint production plans, are expected to be finalized after technical and commercial negotiations but have not yet been made public. Indian media reported that the 114 jets built by Dassault Aviation are expected to cost 3.25 trillion rupees ($35.65 billion).
They also reported that 90 of the 114 jets may be produced in India, with a joint venture partner yet to be identified.
“Rafale is absolutely key,” Macron said. “I wish we could do that on a submarine. We provide additional capabilities.”
The Indian Navy has six French Scorpene-class submarines, and local media reports say it plans to order more.
On Tuesday, Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the first assembly line for H125 helicopters to be built in India by a joint venture of Airbus and Tata Advanced Systems, as well as plans for joint production of Hammer missiles in India by Safran and state-owned Bharat Electronics.
Rafale fighter jets flown by the Indian Air Force were in the spotlight during the conflict between India and Pakistan last May.
Reuters quoted US officials as saying that Pakistan’s Chinese-made J-10C jets had shot down at least one Rafale fighter jet.
New Delhi has confirmed air losses but has not yet admitted that a Rafale fighter jet was shot down.
(1 USD = 91.1680 Indian Rupees)
(Reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by YP Rajesh and Susan Fenton)
