India’s Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh is set to formally receive the first of the 36 Rafale aircraft contracted at a cost of around Rs 58,000 crore by India at a special ceremony in France on 08 October, 2019. Interestingly it happens to be the Air Force Day, and coincides with Dussehra this year, that marks the victory of God Rama over Ravan. Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar, top Indian Air Force (IAF) officers, French military brass, as well as senior officials of Dassault Aviation, the makers of Rafale, will also be present. All the jets will be delivered by 2022. Ceremonials apart, fighter aircraft induction and operationalisation is a complex, albeit very fine tuned process. The very expensive operational asset has to be not only professionally inducted but also made combat worthy quickly after arrival in the country. IAF having inducted fighter aircraft from many countries, Russian, British and French being more noteworthy has bags of experience to bank on. IAF has inducted many French aircraft, all from Dassault Aviation. These including 104, MD 450 Ouragan (Indian name Toofani ‘Huricane’) in period 1953-1965, and 110, MD.454 Mystere IV in period 1957-1973. The Mirage 2000 inducted in 1985 is under upgrade and continues to be the cutting-edge fleet of the IAF. Mirages were the weapon platform of choice ever since induction including in Kargil war and recent Balakot strikes.
The Contract
In September 2016, India and France signed an inter-governmental agreement (IGA) for the acquisition of 36 aircraft at a total cost of €7.87 billion (Rs 58,891 crore). It included India would acquire 28 single-seat aircraft at a cost of €91.1 million (Rs 681.7 crore) each and 8 dual-seat aircraft at a cost of €94 million (Rs 703.4 crore) each. The deal also included tailor-made enhancements for the Indian Air Force at a cost of €1.8 billion (Rs 13,470 crore), a weapons package costing €710 million (Rs 5,313 crore) and a performance-based logistics agreement at a cost of €353 million (Rs 2,641 crore). The weaponry procured included missiles such as MICA and Meteor Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missiles and SCALP air-to-ground cruise missiles. The nearly dozen India-specific enhancements included the integration of an Israeli helmet-mounted display (HMD), radar warning receivers and low-band jammers. The agreement included a 50% “offset clause”, which required the companies involved in the agreement—primarily Dassault, Thales, Safran and MBDA to invest 50% of the contract value (approximately €3.9 billion or Rs 30,000 crore) back into India, with 30% of the total (approximately €1.2 billion or Rs9,000 crore) reserved for the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Of this 50%, 74% (approximately €2.9 billion or Rs 22,200 crore) was to come from purchase of goods and services from India, which was expected to bolster the government’s efforts to promote Indian defence equipment manufacturers. According to the deal, the delivery of the jets was to be completed in 67 months from the date the contract was inked.
Preparatory Work in France
As is traditional, a project monitoring team, called the ‘Rafale Project Team’ (RFT) has been in place in France since 2017. It is headed by an IAF Group Captain and has four other officers. The team is collocated and is working closely with the Dassault company at their Saint Cloud complex in Paris. They also visit the Dassault facility at the flight test centre at Istres, in southern France, and the aircraft manufacturing plant at Bordeaux–Mérignac. RPT is responsible for monitoring contract execution and acting as an interface between India and France.
As per schedule in the contract the first aircraft has to be delivered in September 2019. Even though the formal ceremony will take place on 08 October due to administrative convenience of the Minister, the technical delivery of the first aircraft took place in France on 19 September with the handing over to IAF’s Deputy Chief, Air Marshal VR Chaudhary. Acceptance of an aircraft from the manufacturer involves physical check of ‘Standard of Preparation’, which includes every bit on board the aircraft, check of all supporting certification and maintenance documents, and flight test the aircraft. An Indian team of flight test pilots and engineers has been positioned in France for this purpose. This is a standard procedure followed around the world, including when IAF accepts aircraft from HAL. The rough schedule is to hand over one aircraft every month. This team will do the acceptance of all aircraft.
Training in France
Normally very professionally good personnel are chosen for training abroad. These personnel later become the nucleus for training the others in India. Training for IAF personnel includes, flying training for IAF pilots and technical training for engineers and technicians. Pilots go through ground training on basic aircraft systems, the operational systems and weapons and later about their exploitation. Before physically commencing flying, they will fly a few missions on the simulator and under supervision of the French flying instructors. The flying training is planned at Mont-de-Marsan air base in South west France. Even IAF Mirage 2000 flying training was done at this base. Normally there will 2-3 batches of Indian pilots who will train in France. These pilots will later fly the aircraft to India in April 2020. The engineers and technicians will get an over view training on the whole aircraft and will thereafter branch out for sub-type specialization on their own systems. They will train mostly with the manufacturers and also get exposure to the aircraft maintenance practices with French Air Force.
Ferry To India
The aircraft fill be flown to India by IAF pilots. Before ferry out they would make one or two practice flights across airways within France to refresh civil procedures. The first departure from Bordeaux Merignac airfield is expected in April 2020. The 6-8 aircraft will fly in two formations of 3-4 aircraft each. The fighter formations will be accompanied by a large transport aircraft of C-70 or IL-76 class. This aircraft would carry engineers, technicians and spare parts for technical support through the ferry. A large aircraft is required because even a spare engine would have to be carried along with a special loading trolley. The aircraft could also be used for other contract related items to be transferred to India. The fighter aircraft will be unarmed, and will carry external fuel tanks for longer range. Formations would normally fly stretches of up to 2h 30m. Thereafter they will have technical halts for refueling and aircraft turn-around. In case of Mirage 2000, the halts were at Athens, Cairo, Doha, a landing at Jamnagar for custom clearance, and then finally to the home airbase. Rafale could follow similar route culminating at Ambala. Dassault also has ground facilities at many of these places.
Squadron Formation
17 squadron ‘Golden Arrows’ which was ‘number-plated’ in 2016 has been resurrected on 10 September 2019 at Ambala. This will be the first Rafale squadron. Interestingly, Air Chief Dhanoa had commanded this squadron during Kargil war. The pilots trained abroad will be posted to this squadron. They will also be the core group to formulate Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), tactics and weapon system exploitation for fleet operations in India. Engineers and technicians will formulate maintenance SOPs. This core group would also split into two to form the second Rafale squadron at Hashmira in the east a year later.
Station Infrastructure
Ambala was the mother base to the initial induction of Jaguars and MiG 21 Bison aircraft, among others. The airbase is nearly 200 km from India’s Western border, and by distance it mirrors Pakistan’s most important airbase Sargoda. This distance gives enough depth and yet is near enough to launch offensive missions across western border. Infrastructure at the airbase, to house the Rafale has been coming up for some time. Most of the existing infrastructure will be useable by the Rafale fleet. Specific-to-type blast pens, technical infrastructure including avionics and electronic warfare systems laboratories, weapon preparation areas etc will be built or re-appropriated. Specific flight safety requirements will be dove-tailed into the Station plan. The Rafale simulator and the type-training TETTRA school would have to be set up. Facilities for engine test-bench may be required. Later similar infrastructure will come up at Hashimara.
Rafale – the Weapon Platform
Rafale DH (two-seater) and Rafale EH (Single-seat) variant, are twin-engine, delta-wing, 4th plus generation fighter with semi-stealth capabilities. It is an agile aircraft and capable of simultaneously packaging air superiority, interdiction, reconnaissance, and airborne nuclear deterrent missions. The aerodynamically unstable aircraft uses digital fly-by-wire flight controls. The actively coupled canard wing allows high manoeuvrability. The aircraft is designed for reduced radar cross-section (RCS) and infra-red signature. There is extensive use of composite materials. The glass cockpit is designed around the principle of data fusion. A central computer prioritizes information to display to pilots for simpler command and control.
The Rafale is fitted with two Snecma M88 engines, each capable of providing up to 50 kilo-Newton (kN) of dry thrust and 75 kN with afterburners. The engines feature several advances, including a non-polluting combustion chamber, single-crystal turbine blades, and powder metallurgy disks, and technology to reduce radar and infrared signatures. The engine is of a modular design for ease of maintenance and upgrades. A thrust vectoring variant of the engine designated as M88-3D is also under development.
Rafale also features an advanced avionics suite. The total value of the radar, electronic communications and self-protection equipment is about 30% of the cost of the entire aircraft. The aircraft’s RBE2 AA active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar has been fully tested operationally. It has a field of regard of 70° on either side of the aircraft axis, and extended range capabilities supporting low-observable target detection. Its SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) imaging and improved resistance to jamming. Rafale makes extensive use of radar-absorbent materials (RAM). The SPECTRA integrated electronic warfare suite provides long-range detection, identification and accurate localization of infrared homing, radio-frequency and laser threats. The system incorporates radar warning receiver, laser-warning, Missile Approach Warning (MAW) for threat detection plus a phased array radar jammer and a decoy dispenser for threat countering. It also includes a dedicated management unit for data fusion and reaction decision. The Thales/SAGEM Optronique Secteur Frontal infra-red search and track (IRST) system uses a narrow field for tracking air targets at ranges up to 100 kilometers. A TV/IR sensor for target identification (40 km range) including laser rangefinder.
A host of latest weapons would also get inducted. Aircraft has a 30 mm cannon with 125 rounds. The 14 hard-points can carry 9,500 kg external loads. The air-to-air missiles include Magic II, MBDA MICA IR or EM, and MBDA Meteor. Meteor is an active radar guided, beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM). Meteor offers multi-shot capability against long range manoeuvring targets, jets, UAVs and cruise missiles in a heavy electronic countermeasures (ECM) environment with range well in excess of 150 kilometers. The no-escape zone of over 60 km is largest among air-to-air missiles according to the manufacturer. A solid-fueled ramjet motor allows the missile to cruise at a speed of over Mach 4. Among the host of air-to-ground weapons is MBDA Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG cruise missile with 450 kg warhead and 560 km range. Aircraft has been used in combat in Afghanistan, Libya and Mali. The aircraft will bring new levels of technology. It would help India dominate Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Based on Mirage-2000 experience it is likely to have a much higher serviceability, low turn-around time, and high mission accomplishment rate.
Operational Preparation and Deployment
It shall be the endeavour of the IAF to quickly make the fleet fully operational. They will start, flying operational missions along with the radar controllers. They will quickly hone their weapon delivery skills. They will begin evolving dissimilar air combat tactics (DACT) with other fleets. Rafale will fly mixed formation missions in realistic war-like scenarios. They will fly network-centric missions in different roles, including air strikes, air-defence and electronic support roles. They will also take part in inter-service joint exercises. They would also fly coordinated missions with strategic assets like air-refuelers and AWACS.
Rafale the Game Changer
Equipped with a wide range of weapons, the Rafale would perform air supremacy, interdiction, aerial reconnaissance, deep ground strike, anti-ship strike and nuclear deterrence missions. The Rafale is referred to as an “omnirole” aircraft by Dassault. The class and range of the AESA radar, IRST, avionics, fused data, stealth features, SPECTRA protection suit, and most importantly the weapons put it in a different class both on western and northern borders. Rafale is likely to maintain high availability and mission success rate. 36 is an odd figure that does not even make two full squadrons. Like India did in other fleets in the past, a follow-on order for another 36 could make viable operational numbers. The 50 percent offsets could in a way support Make-in-India requirements. As Prime Minister Modi said, Rafale will be a game changer in the region on many counts.
– The Author has been the Pioneer of Mirage 2000 fleet and has watched the induction and operationalisation of a French fighter fleet closely.
This article was published in Indian Military Review (IMR)
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