According to a report by "India's Defense Research Wing" on August 11, the Indian Air Force strongly advocates signing a government-to-government agreement with France to procure more Rafale fighter jets.

Considering the current timing, it is rather delicate.

In the May 7 air battle, Pakistan shot down several Indian aircraft, including several Rafales, while India firmly denied it and refused to release specific loss data.

With external doubts still lingering, the Indian Air Force quickly proposed an expansion plan, citing the accelerated retirement of aging MiG-21s and the imminent drop in the number of combat squadrons to historic lows, necessitating the use of advanced aircraft to replenish combat power.

However, the issue of outdated aircraft is not something that has just emerged. Why is there such urgency to purchase Rafales now?

Therefore, this sense of urgency is hard to separate from the time point after the air battle. Linking the replenishment of combat power with strategic updates is not wrong, but this move cannot help but raise suspicions that the expansion of Rafale purchases is intended to cover up previous losses.

Indian Aircraft

The truth about the aircraft losses has already formed a surrounding situation between Pakistan and Indian domestic public opinion.

Pakistan has publicly called on India to accept independent verification of its aircraft inventory to clarify the controversy.

Indian legislators have also made similar requests, asking Modi to bring out all the Rafales for a check, so everyone can count how many are left, and use facts to respond to the doubts.

Exactly at this time, the Indian Air Force is pushing forward the Rafale procurement plan loudly, making it difficult to say that it is not to cover up. As long as they quickly buy back some, fill the gap, they can claim that no aircraft has been destroyed.

Pakistani Defense Minister

Certainly, India does have some long-term needs.

India proposed a multi-role fighter aircraft (MRFA) project years ago, which is still not implemented today.

This project originally planned to procure 114 fourth-and-a-half-generation medium multi-role fighters to replace retired aircraft and enhance overall combat capability.

Theoretically, these new aircraft should become the backbone of the Indian Air Force within the next decade.

However, the project has been delayed for many years since its initiation, with delays in bidding, technical evaluation, and negotiations on indigenous content.

At the same time, the procurement of fifth-generation aircraft has also faced difficulties - India does not want to buy the F-35 from the United States, and although the Russian Su-57 has attractive performance on paper, its production capacity and delivery cycle are questionable.

The domestically developed fifth-generation aircraft AMCA will take at least ten years before it can form combat capability.

In this context, the Rafale becomes one of the few available solutions for the Indian Air Force: there is an established pilot and logistics system, relatively smaller resistance to technology transfer, and it can quickly replenish the fleet size.

It should be noted that previously, India had some reservations about the Rafale, and only purchased a batch because there was no other choice, not based on the MRFA project.

Indian Defense Minister (middle)

The Indian procurement system has always been known for its complexity and slowness, which is one of the root causes of the MRFA project's prolonged delay.

Any major procurement must first go through initial recognition of necessity, then be reviewed by the Defense Procurement Committee, followed by international bidding, technical evaluation, price negotiation, implementation of indigenous content, establishment of production lines, and other stages.

Each step may be delayed for months or even years due to political maneuvering, budget disputes, or technical controversies.

The MRFA project has consumed nearly eight years since its proposal, but it is still in the approval and scheme optimization stage, and it is still far from signing and production.

Therefore, it is necessary to look at the speed of this batch of Rafale imports. If the process is completed quickly, and the aircraft are delivered in a short period of time, it can be determined that India is restocking.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7537520315078672948/

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