NEW DELHI: In another big step towards inking the Rafale deal, India has issued the Letter of Request (LoR) to France to finalise the mega defence agreement worth around Rs 3.25 lakh crore for 114 Rafale fighter jets for the IAF.“The Letter of Request was issued last week by the acquisition wing of the defence ministry to French officials,” a source told TOI. LoR is a formal govt-to-govt document used to initiate a defence procurement, often under the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program or similar international agreements.Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal AP Singh reached France on Monday and during his 4-day visit, he is likely to talk on the proposed agreement and visit the French facilities of Dassault Aviation where the fighter jets will be manufactured. After the IAF chief, PM Modi is expected to visit France around mid-June, and the Rafale deal is expected to come up in his discussions with the French leadership.The French side is expected to reply to India’s LoR or tender in the next 2 to 3 months. The final contract, which is expected by this year-end, will be signed after the final price negotiations and the approval of the cabinet committee on security.Under the proposed deal, 90 to 94 Rafale jets will be manufactured in India under the Make in India initiative by French manufacturer Dassault Aviation in partnership with an Indian company and the rest will be delivered in fly-away condition.Besides the deal for 114 Rafale jets, the Navy is separately procuring 26 Rafale Marine aircraft from Dassault for carrier operations for which the agreement was inked on April 28 last year. The IAF already operates 36 Rafales received under the Sept 2016 inter-govt agreement.India’s Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) programme, under which 114 fighter jets will be procured, is meant to address the critical capability gap in the IAF and check the depleting strength of its fighter squadrons, which have gone down to an alarming 29 from an ideal 42.5 squadrons, which are needed to effectively tackle a two-front security threat from Pakistan and China.The Defence Acquisition Council had cleared the IAF proposal to acquire the 114 Rafale jets over four months ago. As part of the deal, this would be the first-time ever that the Rafale aircraft will be manufactured outside France with around 50% localisation.
