*Paris, France: *
Ahead of handing over of the first Rafale jet to India, European missilemaker MBDA has said that the aircraft with the most advanced weaponspackage comprising of Meteor and Scalp missiles will provide the countryunrivaled deep strike capability and air dominance in the region.
MBDA’s Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile and Scalp cruisemissile will be the mainstay of the weapons package of the 36 Rafale jetsbeing procured by India at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore, Press Trust of Indiahas reported.
“India will get new capabilities with Rafale aircraft which the countrynever had before. Both Scalp and Meteor missiles will be game changer forIndian Air Force,” MBDA’s India chief Loic Piedevache told PTI.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will receive the first Rafale jet at an airbase in Paris on Tuesday, three years after India sealed the mega deal forprocurement of the aircraft manufactured by French aerospace major DassaultAviation.
“Rafale is an amazing aircraft fitted with a very superior weapons package.It has been having great success in several important markets. We are happyto be part of the project to supply 36 Rafale to India,” he said.
He said Meteor is known to be the best beyond visual range missile in theworld while Scalp is a deep strike weapon, and the Rafale with these twomissiles will help India achieve unmatched air dominance in the region.
“Today, India does not have such capability,” he added
Meteor is a next generation of BVR air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) designed torevolutionise air-to-air combat. The weapon has been developed by MBDA tocombat common threats facing the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Spain andSweden.
Guided by an advanced active radar seeker, Meteor provides all weathercapability to engage a wide variety of targets from fast jets to smallunmanned aerial vehicles and cruise missiles.Advertisement
The Scalp is an air-launched long range deep strike missile, designed todeal with pre-planned attacks against high value fixed or stationarytargets. Scalp has been part of the UK’s Royal Air Force and the French AirForce and was used in the Gulf War.
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Newly-appointed IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadaurialast week said the Rafale jets will enhance IAF’s combat capabilities overits adversaries in the neighbourhoo
Besides the missile systems, the Rafale jets will come with variousIndia-specific modifications, including Israeli helmet-mounted displays,radar warning receivers, low band jammers, 10-hour flight data recording,infra-red search and tracking systems among others.
Mr Piedevache said MBDA was excited about future acquisition programme ofall the three forces and was ready to offer best of technologies to India.
“India is a strategic partner for us. We have the knowledge and technologyto match India’s requirement. We are also excited about the Indian Navy’ssubmarines and frigates programmes,” he said.
MBDA has been supplying range of missiles to the Army, Navy and the IndianAir Force in the last five decades.
Last month, it signed an agreement with defence PSU Bharat Dynamics Limited(BDL) for the final assembly, integration and test (FAIT) of Mistral andASRAAM missiles in India.
ASRAAM is a new generation close combat missile. The IAF’s Jaguar aircraftare the first Indian platform to receive this cutting-edge air-combatmissile.
Mr Piedevache said the MoU with BDL will help in further enhancing MBDA’sengagement with India.
“It has been MBDA’s 50 year-old cooperation with India which has been veryfruitful. We are fully committed to meet India’s requirement,” said the topexecutive.
