A DEAL that hasn’t gone down well with the British government is that French firm Dassault has won a multi-billion-dollar contract to provide 126 fighter jets to the Indian military. As per the details available, Dassault will sell its Rafale multi-role jet to India after beating the Eurofighter Typhoon to secure the long-awaited contract, which is estimated to be worth $12 billion.

The tendered contract was for the outright purchase of 18 combat aircrafts by 2012 with another 108 to be built in India with options to acquire more. Such a large order involved strong lobbying during visits to India by US President Barack Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The procurement of the fighter jets is a key part of India's military upgrade program, aimed at securing its borders against rivals Pakistan and China.

That is the normal part of business dealing but the real story is something that has to be read between the lines - what will be ultimately delivered to India? Are we getting deals worth our money? Are we 1.5 billion Indians being hoodwinked into buying somebody’s scrap? Is there a possibility of a scandal?

Taking a close look, let us see what the French are currently using and what is on their future plate.

If we Indians are getting Rafale Standard F1 or L1 fighters then we are definitely in for a scandal and stand to be cheated as F1 or L1 are nothing but have standard Mirage 2000 capabilities, which are being retired from French air force as of now by the new Raffle B series jets. The French, it seems are going to induct Raffle B, C and M jets into its air force by disbanding the F1 or L1, F2 or L2 and F3 or L3 range to a second party buyer which happens to be us. This is just scandalously outrageous as we are buying scrapped jets at twice the amount of a new Rafale B jet. The French it seems have recovered their entire cost of development with interest and are adding a squadron of jets free of cost to their air force. The French are delivering the scrapped or obsolete F2 Jets as L2 jets to us Indians and not the latest B, C & M Rafale series which incidentally they themselves are inducting into their air force through  a modernization plan running beyond 2030.

The French cost is USD 15 billion to produce about 400 Raffle B, C and M fighters as per Deagel.com and we are getting 128 fighters for USD 12 Billion and those too with scrapped/obsolete F1/ L1 or F2/ L2 range. The kickbacks are a derivative of justifying the high cost of our purchase amounts to a whopping cost of about 272 Rafle B fighter jets. This amount could have helped India make and develop a Hydrogen plasma-based hybrid fifth generation fighter jet or 600 Sukhoi 32 Jets or 400 Rafale B fighter Jets or 300 Euro Fighters or 200 Lock heed F 32’s.

Currently Rafale aircrafts are delivered in the Standard F1 or L1 series, comprising of air-to-air capabilities. The F2 inducted in 2005 added air-to-ground capabilities to the Standard F1. Standard F3, the last one, was inducted in 2007 and allows the use of nuclear weapons and is designed for aircraft carrier operations. All these used aircraft would be delivered to India like a well-dressed old man to make him appear young and fresh.

The latest Rafale B, C and M jets aircrafts will replace three models: Rafale M for carrier based operations, and Rafale B and C for conventional airfield based operations. They will replace up to 6 aircraft types within the French armed forces; Super Etendard, Crusader, Mirage F1, Raffle F1,  Raffle F2, Raffle F3, Jaguar, Mirage IV, and early Mirage 2000.

Rafales new B, C and M generation aircrafts promise the following, according to Deagel.com: The Rafale is a twin-engine two seater, multi-role aircraft designed to provide improved survivability, lethality, availability and maintainability over current Mirage 2000 aircraft. The Rafale aircraft family will be operational well into the 21st century, beyond 2040. It will be able to accommodate all the current weaponry of the French Armed Forces inventory, as well as munitions available in the future. The Raffale aircraft will perform air defense, surface attack, nuclear deterrent, and reconnaissance missions with minor changes on the airframe. The Rafale's survivability concept is achieved through the low-observability concept (no-stealth concept) that comprises integrated countermeasures system (Spectra), two engines, reduced or discreet IR and radar signatures, advanced integrated electro-optical sensors (Rafale FSO) and an electronically scanned array radar (RBE2) providing advanced capabilities. In addition, latest generation weapons will allow the Rafale aircraft to operate from standoff ranges. The use of pods is requested for air-to-surface and reconnaissance missions being available Damocles targeting pod, Recce NG reconnaissance pod, and NAVFLIR navigation pod. The Rafale's weapon options comprises a built-in 30mm gun, Mica air-to-air missiles, Exocet, Apache, ASMP, and Scalp EG air-to-surface missiles as well as Paveway II and BGL bombs. It also incorporates the AASM, ASMP-A, ANF, and Meteor missiles improving its air-to-air and air-to-surface performance.

I hope that we receive Raffle B, C and M versions instead of Raffle F1, F2 and F3 aircraft. I feel sad knowing that none of the Indian investigative agencies will ascertain whether we are handed Raffle B range of aircrafts and not the Raffle F1. In my country’s interest and as a citizen, I have full right to know as to what we are buying is the best or not.