We can't change structure of current Rafales, So it still will be subpar modifications. It will also come at high cost. If recent news about state of BVRAAM is true we essentially paid heavy bucks just for EW.
Su 30MKI is way better than those retiring planes. So, Build more Su30MKI as a stop gap measure. But i am going to use these lemons to make lemonaide. Its aapha mai awasaar time.mig29( 60 ), Jaguars( 113 ), Mirages ( 46 ) are 218 planes total as of now from the wiki.
Either all of these or some might retire in the next decade of 2030-2040.
In the meantime you can bet more of the above models will crash irrespective of the herculean efforts of IAF pilots to recover.
Tejas, AMCA etc will continue to face those ((( engine supply chain ))) issues mark my words.
We don't want Eurofighter because too many cooks, we don't want Gripen because of the US engine, we don't want anything Russian because Khauf -e- CAATSA and muh ruzzian engine bad
We ofc don't want any Amerithrash for the obvious reasons.
What remains then?
Also the Rafale is the carrot to get them to collaborate with GTRE to ressurect the Kaveri somehow.
It's not countering chong stealth jets, it's that we are losing planes in absolute terms as years pass by and continuing to flog these old horses is dangerous for pilots
JV. We are in need of way way more planes. We have squeezed a lot out of our older platforms and they are in dire need of retirement.
Fighters needed.
France would need to convince several European countries to fund their fighter jet or engine programs. In contrast, cooperation with India is much simpler, as it involves dealing with just one partner. India is the most suitable collaborator for both the British and the French.
You forgot the older or the first Su-30MKI airframes who would become nearly as old as MiG-29 and Mirage-2000 are today. They too would have to be replaced after 2040.
I am against stop gap mentality. 100 or 114 is also not sufficient. Rafales will be deficient in a war with Chongs. They have a good AD density. Their stealth crafts in numbers will sharpen their edge. Rafales thus do not provide a good ROI against Chongs. They are though credible against porkies. But current squadron strength is more than enough to penetrate Pakistani AD and our Su30MKI will do incredible weightlifting in inflicting strong damage to them.So, I don't see the usefulness of 2 or 5 more squadrons of Rafales. Its neither here nor there.
Exactly, French are better working with us if they can't collaborate with other EU nations. They can't fund the next iterations on their own. They need an external partner. India is a suitable candidate. Infact it will be a sustainable relationship. India and France should form a Joint Venture. French can bring engine technology on the table(its the only thing they can actually bring), we will bring money, cheap production costs and a big deep order book. More than us its the french who need Indian crutch. Afterall if within next year our GE engine supply chain issues are sorted and we start getting timely delivery of engines we may not need to rely on french anymore.
I agree with this. Many initial concepts look far from being practial but either they are eventually refined enough for practical use or they become incubators for future tech.
it's insurance and hedging our bets, buying Rafale and adding some clause in the contract is also helpful for getting Kaveri across the finish line, we can also buy M88 for them from AMCA as a hedge against the americunt GE F414 having those ((( supply chain issues ))) or the orange pig outright sanctioning us.
Force them into a Joint Venture? Offer exceptionally good profit prospects and they might come. Otherwise they can just sell their wares with very good profit eg Rafale. India has demonstrated it cannot make fighters as required. India is not in a position to force foreign OEMs into Joint Ventures with Indian OEMs. Remember F414? Funding to be withheld from Mk2 programme until GE gave 100% TOT.
