Indian Air Force chief Birender Singh Dhanoa on Wednesday defended the government’s move to procure Rafale fighter jets, reported ANI.
“By providing the Rafale and S-400, the government is strengthening the Indian Air Force to counter the depleting force numbers,” Dhanoa said at a seminar on IAF force structure organised by the Centre for Air Power Studies in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Dhanoa said the Indian Air Force has a sanctioned strength of 42 squadrons, but it was down to 31. “Even when we do have 42 squadrons, we will be below the combined numbers of two of our regional adversaries,” he said.
Dhanoa said that such emergency procurements were also undertaken in the past to arrest depleting numbers, reported The Hindu. “It is pertinent to note that all those procurement are for two squadrons of aircraft and under the umbrella of IGA [inter-governmental agreement].” He said the inter-governmental agreement facilitates faster procurement of equipment.
India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France in 2016 to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets, at a cost of Rs 58,000 crore. The opposition Congress has been accusing the Narendra Modi government of getting an overpriced deal. It has also alleged that the government helped a defence firm owned by Anil Ambani with no experience in the sector to land a mega contract under the deal.
The government has refused to reveal the per-plane price that it has negotiated in the deal, citing a secrecy agreement with France. On August 29, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley played down Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of irregularities in the deal and asked the party to show evidence.
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