PARIS—India’s close ties with France will be marked as part of Bastille Day celebrations on July 14.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is paying his third visit to France since the election of French President Emmanuel Macron in 2017. As a sign of Franco-Indian friendship, three Rafales from the Indian Air Force accompanied by a Rafale from the French Air Force will fly over the Champs-Élysées, just after the traditional opening of the Bastille Day air parade by the Patrouille de France.
But French leaders also are hoping industry will have something to celebrate as well. India finally appears to be on the cusp of selecting a new combat aircraft for the country’s aircraft carriers. The naval version of the Dassault Rafale appears to have the upper hand over the U.S. Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet.
Media reports in India suggest the country’s defense procurement board has approved a purchase of the Rafale, but this is yet to be confirmed.
Regarding the potential contract for 26 aircraft for the Indian Navy, a presidential source says "negotiations are still underway." Whether an announcement will be made this week or not is unclear.
Should the Rafale win the competition, the announcement could instead be made in India, possibly during a high-level visit. Dassault CEO Eric Trappier told senators during a hearing in May that he is "also expecting announcements from our Indian friends," but added, “We need to be patient with India."
France and India will celebrate 25 years of their strategic partnership, signed in 1998, a diplomatic relationship "at the highest level and dense," but also "one of France's leading export markets," the French defense ministry says.
According to data provided by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India is France's leading customer, receiving 30% of French armament exports over the 2018-22 period. Moreover, India is the largest importer of major arms over the period 2018-22 with an 11% share of global arms imports. France is India's second largest supplier with a 29% share of India's total imports; Russia is first with a 45% share.
Industrial cooperation between France and India stepped up in 2016, following the announcement of India's purchase of 36 Rafales.
The contract came with an offset clause, in accordance with the Indian government's "Make in India" strategy intended to forge partnerships and develop its own industrial fabric.
In 2017, Dassault Aviation and the Reliance Group set up the joint venture DRAL (Dassault Reliance Aerospace Ltd.) and built a factory in Nagpur, India, to assemble Falcon 2000s and produce Rafale components. Dassault's objective is to "lay the foundations of a national industrial ecosystem in the defense aeronautics field" in India, bringing together a network of Indian micro-companies and SMEs that integrate the supply chain of Dassault and its partners.
Dassault Group also set up a dedicated Indian engineering unit in 2018—Dassault Aircraft Services India-Engineering Center (DASI EC). Located in Pune, DASI EC steers Dassault Aviation's engineering activity in India for both civil and military aircraft, according to an internal document.
Dassault also is involved in training through the Dassault Skill Academy. The first students in the Aeronautical Structure & Equipment Fitter vocational program graduated in 2022, and more are in training. French teachers will be replaced by Indian ones in mid-2024. Dassault also plans to prepare future educators involved in the roll-out to other vocational high schools.
Since becoming Dassault Aviation's first export customer, India has acquired 450 aircraft of six different types since 1953: Ouragan, Mystère IV, Alizé, Jaguar, Mirage 2000 and Rafale.
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