In September 2016, India ended with 78The sky-high order of 7.8 billion euros for the purchase of 36 "Rafale" F3s in France once shook the world. The peculiarity of this order is that "Rafale" once won the bid at a low price, but it was quickly rejected by India, and a few years later, India purchased it with an unprecedented price. Even India**, in order to dispel doubts from the outside world, explained 78The approximate distribution of 7.8 billion euros, but the voice of doubt has never disappeared, and the recent news of the French ** poked out seems to reveal the truth behind the scenes.
The controversy over India's procurement of Rafale persists to this day.
Generally speaking, large military ** are paid in installments, after all, it is difficult for buyers to shell out such a large sum of money at once. However, the advanced performance of the military is time-sensitive, and it is difficult to stop the manufacturer's production capacity start, so it is generally delivered before the final payment. This time, France exported "Rafale" to India, and it was this time difference that went wrong. According to French sources, after paying about 2.7 billion euros, the Indian side began to delay the payment of goods, and recently even offered to pay for the goods in Indian rupees. I originally thought that India's ** procurement of "Rafale" suffered a big loss, but I didn't expect that there would be a backhand, which is really eye-opening. If India had thought about defaulting on its debts from the beginning, it would have been 78The purchase price of 7.8 billion euros is understandable, the question is, is it possible for France to accept India's terms?
The pace of French deliveries of the Rafale was okay.
In India's view, this is possible. In the agreement reached between the two parties six years ago, France must deliver the first Rafale 36 months after signing the contract (the actual delivery is the 37th month), and complete all orders within 66 months (also a few months late). And the Indian side does not have to pay the 1. that France originally demanded3.4 billion euros in deposits, but 15% of the total price (about 11800 million euros), and then pay at the pace of fighter deliveries. From the current point of view, India should have planned for a long time, in addition to early payment, it will try to offset the purchase cost with physical goods from 2021, and wait until all 36 "Rafale" are delivered, India has no fear, and the payment will be further delayed or even turned into rupees. Interestingly, after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Europe embarwent Russian refined oil products, while India took the opportunity to **Russia's Urals** and sold smelted diesel and aviation kerosene to Europe, of which France happened to be a big buyer.
Now the Indian Air Force is more mature in the use of Rafale.
India would not have imagined today's situation a few years ago, but it has to admit that France theoretically has the possibility of receiving Indian rupees and then reselling them to purchase Indian diesel and jet fuel. After all, India's exports of refined oil products to Europe have increased significantly, generally around 150,000 barrels of diesel and 70,000 barrels of jet fuel per day in 2023, but this is only theoretical. Foreign exchange and exchange rates are things that can be written in millions of words in the international **, and it is impossible for India to achieve rupee settlement with France by virtue of the short-term advantage in energy exports. That is, when Russia was desperate, it dared to make a big hole in the rupee settlement when exporting oil to India. The most important thing is that now India seems to have obtained 36 "Rafale", and it can take France at will in terms of payment, but in fact, its confidence is really not very strong.
Rafale" and electronic pods are critical to combat effectiveness.
A modern fighter is already a highly sophisticated industrial masterpiece, not an agricultural tractor, which can be repaired on any piece of land. The common parts consumed by fighters on a daily basis, supporting airborne ammunition, and later software and hardware upgrades and maintenance are absolutely impossible to do at the level of the Indian aviation industry. Unless India can make up its mind to lose both sides and vacate 36 Rafale aircraft, it will eventually bow its head because of French technical support. For France, although the 2.7 billion euros that India has paid is not a lot, it is not far off to offset the production cost of 36 Rafale, and there is enough time for India to maneuver. What's more, India has also added a batch of carrier-based "Rafale-M" this year, ready to be used by newly commissioned domestic aircraft carriers. If the payment for the previous "Rafale" does not give a reasonable regulation, I am afraid that the delivery of the "Rafale-M" will be delayed, and it will be difficult to realize the twin aircraft carriers that the Indian Navy has in mind.
The Indian Navy has already taken a fancy to the Rafale-M
No matter which way you look at it, India's delay in payment this time is very stupid, and it will only pay a greater price in the future if it takes advantage of the advantages on the surface. In the early 90s, the United States** froze F-16 exports to Pakistan, and the more than $200 million that the latter had already paid for goods could not be returned because they had been paid to F-16 manufacturers before that. The two sides tried their best to do everything for this, and in the end, after the mothballed F-16 fleet was transferred to the US Navy and Air Force, the United States ** received the appropriation and added the materials urgently needed by Pakistan to fill in the account many years later, and there was no default or other argument during the period. To put it bluntly, some accounts cannot be made up, not to mention that India's methods are so clumsy. Of course, from India's point of view, France took advantage of India's urgent need for a lion to open its mouth and ask for 78The ** of 7.8 billion euros is not innocent either.
Other countries buy Rafale much less than India.
The 36 Rafale is normally** about 5 billion euros, and India's overpayment is mainly divided into three parts: First, the cost of adjusting the environment for India's use. The high temperature and humid geographical environment of South Asia has made the Su-30MKI a problem, and the "Rafale" used to be active at a high latitude, so the special design naturally needs to add money. Second, the special needs of India. France has designed a tactical nuclear capability for the Rafale, which is a high-end sensitive technology that cannot be sold lightly, and India likes this kind of thing, and the outside world speculates that there will be nearly 2 billion euros of technical transformation costs. 3. Traditional projects of India's arms procurement. From the Su-30MKI to the "Vikramaditya" aircraft carrier, India's major foreign arms purchases are accompanied by fraud and **, and the "Rafale" is naturally no exception, and the news exposed in 2021 is just the tip of the iceberg. In any case, this is the past, and now around the huge sum of almost 5 billion euros, both sides show their talents, and it will be up to them to see who can have the last laugh.