Latest reports from India (see the India Times) suggest that Dassault may have offered a potential shift of Rafale manufacturing from France to India, just as BAE has effectively moved all future Hawk manufacturing to HAL.

That would naturally cost some French jobs (and would generate a massive reaction from French Unions and maybe the French public), but the benefits would be huge. Production costs would be dramatically reduced, and the price of Rafale could be lowered to a degree where arguments about the relative cost of Typhoon would be rendered moot, giving the aircraft a decisive advantage on the export market, and markedly reducing the cost of later Rafales to the French taxpayer.

It would also give Dassault a low-cost manufacturing capability on future programmes.

The process would not be immediate. Even after the first 18, French built Rafales are delivered to India, it will be some time before India is able to manufacture Rafales from raw materials. A further batch of aircraft will be assembled in India from major sub assemblies, and then more will be built from ‘knocked down’ kits. Further aircraft will incorporate locally built sub-assemblies, and the proportion of locally built components will progressively increase. And at some point the cost of Rafale will really drop, thanks to the lower cost of labour in India.

At that point, I wouldn’t want to be a Typhoon salesman.

And wait… What? The latest Hawk 128 LIFT variant is being built in the UK; the Indian assembly line is only for the Indian Hawks, and HAL has no re-export rights for the same.

I don’t think we asked for any re-export rights for the Rafale either, which is a great shame given we could easily have gotten it if Brazil could do so for its much smaller order.

Question: Will the PAK-FA’s composite skin be anything like the low-maintenance ‘fiber mat’ radar-absorbent skin that was developed for the F-35 or will it just use more conventional spray-on RAM coatings?

I was referring to Dhruv.

Regarding empty weight, Dhruv is about 2550 kg. I am pretty sure Ka-226 is around 2000kg tops. Depends on configurations of course.

You are right though, Ka-226 MTOW is way more than Fennec.

I am really pulling for Ka-226 though, and not just in the Indian competition. Fennec has had its time and large sales, time for the Ka-226 to make its mark. I really like the co-ax rotor configuration, and what it does in terms of making the body easily accessible from sides and rear. The podded body system seems useful, and the bird’s looks have really grown on me. The canopy is really futuristic.

http://topwar.ru/uploads/posts/2011-08/1313130972_0_66bf9_ca30f707_orig.jpeg

I share your views. It’s strange why such an innovative multi-role chopper design hasn’t had any military orders so far even in Russia: Being able to switch from utility to SAR to MEDEVAC in the hangar would be great.

Yes, I’m curious why this was paired up against the much smaller Fennec; not quite the same weight class. If you ask me the perfect competitor to the Ka-226T would have been this beauty.:cool:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurocopter_EC_635

Like the Ka-226 it has an unconventional design(with Fenestron-enclosed tail rotor) and is available in four different configurations. It can also perform the armed scout/special forces delivery role whereas the Ka-226 is unarmed and utility-oriented.

So it essentially combines the features of JDAM and laser guidance kits like Spice?

Seems like Reliance industries wants a share of mmrca pie.
http://www.defenseworld.net/go/defensenews.jsp?catid=3&id=6573&h=Dassault%20RIL%20Join%20Forces%20Defense%20Sector

Good. As a matter of fact the whole production should have been given to a Dassault partnership with an Indian industrial group, instead of making HAL the Indian contractor yet again.

had a shuddering thought this morning, i hope the MMRCA does not go in the way of the artillary competitions!

Well atleast the DRDO is not sitting on all the documents needed to build a MMRCa type plane.. unlike the the OFB with the arti!

It’s funny that as far back as 2004 it looked as though the Army was gonna get a full suite of first-class artillery.

The Bhim T6 was already on trial with the Denel gun for the self-propelled role, trials were ongoing for the towed and wheeled howitzers and it looked like the FH77B and the ATMOS would win, respectively.

Then the UPA government came, carrying the ghost of Bofors. Denel was blacklisted and the other two competitions reset, the first of a dozen such rounds of blacklisting/reset.:(

What I’ve found worrying is the complete lack of any sawtooth edges on the aircraft structure in all T-50 prototypes so far.

Sure, there are other ways to achieve stealth, but if it helps, why not…