Rafale

On October 3, 2022, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL)’s indigenously designed and produced Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) was formally inducted into the Indian Air Force in Jodhpur in the presence of the Defence Minister, who named … Read moreIndia’s Combat Helicopter: Re-discovering Self-reliance?

Are military technology aspects of the US-India relationship set to change in the coming years? Recent reports suggest that the US is preparing a $500 million foreign military assistance package for India which, although a … Read moreWill India Fall for US Offer on Fighters for Indian Aircraft Carriers?

ON October 8, 2019, in Dassault’s plant in Merignac in the south of France, Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh personally took delivery of the first of the 36 Rafale multi-role fighter aircraft India had acquired from … Read moreIndia Receives First Rafale, Questions Unanswered

IN these columns of the previous issue, the main points of the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of Accounts (CAG) on the Rafale deal were discussed. It was noted that all price figures … Read moreMore on Rafale CAG Report: Between the Lines

THE long awaited CAG Report on the Rafale and 10 other defence acquisitions begins with two wrong notes. One is the acceptance of the government’s demand to redact the price details of the Medium Multi-Role … Read moreCAG Report: A Poor Defence of the Rafale Deal

RAKSHA Mantri Nirmala Sitharaman’s long and tortured statements in the Lok Sabha on January 4 and 7, 2019 during the debate on the Rafale scandal followed the by now well-established pattern of the government’s, and … Read moreRaksha Mantri on HAL & Rafale: Misdirection and Alternative Facts

AFTER many months of stonewalling, hiding behind supposed confidentiality clauses, and yet putting out all manner of partial information, numbers that conceal more than they reveal, and explanations that raise more questions than providing answers, … Read moreRafale Deal: Govt Explanation Misleading