French Dassault Aviation wins $10.4 billion Indian contract for Rafale multirole fighter aircraft 3101122

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World Aviation Industry News - Dassault Aviation
 
 
 
French Dassault Aviation wins $10.4 billion Indian contract for Rafale multirole fighter aircraft.
 
The Dassault Rafale fighter jet, manufactured by French Dassault Aviation, has emerged as the lowest bidder in India's mammoth contract worth $10.4 billion, say sources. The Indian Air Force plans to buy 126 aircraft over the next ten years. France's Dassault Rafale group has won a 10.4 billion U.S. dollar contract to build 126 MMRCA (Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) fighter for the Indian air force in 10 years, said Indian TV channel Times Now Tuesday, January 31, 2012.
     
     

The process to determine the L1 (lowest bidder) has been completed, and sources indicate that the final contract is expected to be signed in the next financial year. The first 18 aircraft will be bought off the shelf. The rest 118 will be manufactured in partnership with an Indian company.

India has chosen Dassault Rafale because it emerged as the lowest bidder among all Western fighter makers, much lower than the Euro-fighter price offer, said the report.

There were six contenders for the world's biggest defence deal which included the Russian MiG- 35,Lockheed Martin's F-16 Falcon, Boeing's F-18 Hornet, the Swedish Saab Grippen, Euro-Fighter Typhoon and Rafale.

Of these, the European EADS Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafale were in the final race for the global tender for the Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA). The Eurofighter bid was backed by four partner nations including Germany, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom while the Dassault Rafale was backed by the French Government.

On November 4 last year, Defence ministry had opened the commercial bid of the two firms left in the race and since then has been busy in determining the lowest bidder. The rest were rejected as they didn't meet the technical qualifications.