As India is on verge of sending out a formal letter of request (LoR) to France for procuring 114 more Rafale jets, the Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal AP Singh will be in France on an official visit starting June 1 and is scheduled to visit Dassault and missile maker MBDA.
While Dassault makes the Rafale jets, missiles of the MBDA are used on several IAF platforms. An LoR is a formal government-to-government communication used to initiate defence procurement under an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) framework.
The IAF Rafale will be acquired under a ‘Make in India’ scheme with French plane maker Dassault partnering with an Indian firm.
For the deal, India has laid down a set of non -negotiable clauses including indigenous weapons and data links.
Engine, airframe and avionics part of transfer of technology. The integration of Indian weapons, missiles and ammunition on all the 114 jets is also part of the deal.
