Between, there was no way the Raf could have been cheaper than a SH. This kind of attitude is what make Fr industry loosing deals: undercutting with no basis of reality and then raising their prices as the “Political” back-up and man to man arrangements fed away with time… Another poor insight from late Dassault officials…Indeed[/SIZE]
PM Modi’s mantra of ‘Make in India’ does not entail ‘at any price’. The *leaked* unit cost of >US$120m makes it easier for the Indian government to kill the deal (blaming both the pompous and disingenuous French and the previous inept Singh govt.) and simultaneously save face… Once again it appears Dassault have clutched defeat from the jaws of victory!
‘In the continued absence of hard information, all we can say is that the possibility space is distressingly large.
If the Russkies offered GaN LTCC broadband (0.9 – 18GHz) radars, some elements being conformal, which incorporate EW/ESM/jammer functions for the ‘Super-30’ upgrade commencing in the early 2020s (because that’s what is slated for the PAK-FA in that time frame) – how the hell’s Rafale T4 going to compete with that?!
Ok lets say 120m… including ToT, training, facilities, initial spare parts etc. Check cost of other deals including 100% or so ToT…
You are not privvy to the unit cost breakdown and are clutching @ straws.
Had FGFA deal been signed, Rafale deal would already be dead.
Obviously Voldermort Putin spun his magic in New Delhi last month with the huge N-reactor & fossil fuel deals (possibly a pipeline?), another SSN lease etc. Even in the West, the notion that large defence deals are standalone and isolated from other major/strategic economic & commercial activity- is a fallacy.
I remember thinking at the time of the Putin/Delhi deals being signed that given their magnitude – may be terminal for Rafale, despite Putin’s hand considerably weakened by the prospects of a recession in Russia as a result of the collapse in the price of crude. The Indians will have earned respect for not overplaying their (strengthened) hand, as they crave long-term energy security.
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