Story on Rafale Deal: A Clarification

The article‘ French Order for 28 Rafale Gives Away What Modi Wants to Hide’ was based on information in French newspapers and the website, Defence News, on January 14, and was published before a midnight note was added saying that the deal was for development of F4 standard of Rafale

In the above article, published in Newsclick on January 15, it was explained that the Government of France placed an order worth €2 billion for 28 next generation Rafale with Dassault Aviation ,while India’s order for 36 Rafale was €8.7 billion. The article had hyperlinked articles, including from French newspapers and well-known defence websites, as source of this information.

The author had tweeted“ French government signed a €2 billion contract with Dassault Aviation for 28 Rafale aircraft on 14 January, 2019. These aircraft will be the latest F4 configuration. It is almost half the price what Modi govt is paying for bare F3 version” quoting the article published byDefence News– a well-known defence publication from the US. Originally, the article did not state that this order by the French government was for the development of F4 standard Rafale. However, after January 15 midnight, the article was edited and a note by the editor added on top that read: “Editor’s note: The €2 billion (U.S. $2.3 billion) sum mentioned in this article is for the development of the F4 standard for Rafale aircraft.” That tweet was taken up by many people and re-tweeted widely. The same group’s another publication Navy Times posted an identical version of the article, which was edited later. headlines in both the articles were changed later.

Dassault Group-owned French newspaper, Le Figaro, published an article and the title reads “France orders the new version of the Rafale.” The article says the value of the order is nearly €2 billion and Dassault Aviation has to deliver these F4 standard Rafale in two stages.

An article in another newspaper, Le Parisien, titled “The Air Force Order Rafale for 2 Billion Euros”, said “The Minister of Armies Florence Parly visited the Merignac factory of Dassault where the Rafale fighter aircraft is assembled. During her visit, she ordered the new generation Rafale F4 worth 2 billion Euros and these aircraft will be delivered by 2023.” After explaining the planned upgrades in the aircraft, the article says “As on 31 December, Dassault has 101 order for Rafale which include 28 from France and 73 for exports.This new order (emphasis added) gives a longer prospect for the company and more orders are expected.”

India-based DefenceWorld.Net was another portal that carried the same news which was later edited to change the content.

News agency&United Press International,better known as UPI, published this article whose headline reads “France orders 28 upgraded Rafale warplanes for $2.3 billion.” As per the article – “France's government on Monday signed a $2.3 billion contract for 28 Rafale fighter jets from French -headquartered Dassault Aviation. The 28 aircraft, which will include some F4 functionalities, will be delivered to the French air force in 2023.” UPI says it had taken the news from Defense News. UPI has yet to edit the piece at the time of writing this.

Dassault Aviation published three back to back press releases on the subject. After seeing the many flip-flops from Eric Trappier, it is very difficult to trust his statements without further confirmation from other relevant sources. He has contradicted himself a number of times on the agreement with Reliance Aerostructure, on availability of land for the joint venture etc. Hence, the credibility of Eric Trappier and Dassault’s statements cannot be the basis for this contract.

Further, when former French President Francois Hollande revealed that the name of Reliance was imposed upon them by Modi government as the Indian offset partner (IOP), Dassault aviation strongly denied that and put out a press release to that effect. But few days later, few leaked documents have shown that they were under pressure and had no option but to accept Reliance ADAG as their Indian offset partner to not to lose a lucrative business opportunity.

The French Ambassador to India, Alexandre Ziegler,tweeted last evening, clarifying that there was no order placed by France for new aircraft with Dassault and the 28 units were the backlog of an old order and the €2 billion is for the development of F4 configuration of Rafale. Earlier, the French government had also denied Hollande’s statement.

The question is whether Defense News, on which our story was based, had misunderstood the €2 billion order or are statements by Dassault and the French government a part of a larger cover-up. While we are willing to accept that the Defense News report was wrong, and so also our story which used the Defence News report, we are skeptical of Dassault and French government claims. Let us see how the story unfolds in the future. The last word on Modi’s Rafale deal still remains to be written.

Also Read: Anil Ambani Emerges from the Shadows of Modi’s Rafale “Deal”