Defenseblog-njs.blogspot.com

December 11, 2015

Bullet train, civil nuclear deal on Japan PM Shinzo Abe’s agenda in India

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday arrived in India on a three-day visit. Welcoming his Japanese counterpart in Delhi, Prime Minister Modi on Friday described him as a “phenomenal leader” and said his trip will further deepen the bilateral relations.

“Liked how PM @AbeShinzo describes India-Japan ties, the rich potential & cultural bond in his piece” in a newspaper, Modi tweeted.

A Rs 98,000-crore deal to build a bullet train network is among a number of agreements likely to be signed during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s three-day visit beginning on Friday during which he will hold annual summit talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. The focus of the visit will be on forging greater synergies between two major Asian economies and take forward the special strategic ties. In the 9th annual Indo-Japan summit talks on Saturday, Modi and Abe will review implementation of various decisions taken in course of last one year to enhance economic ties, particularly in the trade and investment sector.

PM Modi said Abe’s visit will deepen Indo-Japan relations.

Sources said a number of agreements including awarding the Rs 98,000 crore contract to build India’s first bullet train network will be inked. After the talks, he will leave for Varanasi, which is Modi’s Parliamentary constituency, where he will attend Ganga Aarti at famous Dasaswamedh Ghat. Modi will accompany Abe during his nearly four-and-a-half-hour-long visit to Varanasi.

Abe will return to the capital in the evening. The Japanese Prime Minister had accompanied Modi during his visit to Kyoto last year. In Delhi, Abe will call on President Pranab Mukherjee, attend a Japan-India innovation seminar and interact with a group of business leaders.

At the last Summit meeting held in Tokyo last year, the two prime ministers had agreed to elevate the relationship to “Special Strategic and Global Partnership”.

Modi had visited Japan from August 30 to September 3 last year during which that country had announced doubling of its private and public investment in India to about USD 34 billion over a period of five years. During the summit talks last year, Modi and Abe had agreed to enhance defence and strategic cooperation to a new level and also decided to speed up negotiations on civil nuclear deal.

While agreeing on greater defence equipment and technology cooperation, the two sides had decided to expedite discussions on modalities for the sale of Japanese US-2 amphibian aircraft.

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar had held talks with top Japanese officials in Tokyo last month to finalise agenda and other details of Abe’s visit. India and Japan have been expanding their economic and strategic engagement in recent years resulting in cooperation in a vast swathe of fields including defence and security.

The economic engagement witnessed significant rise after both countries signed a a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in 2011.

indianexpress

December 9, 2015

Terror strike in India could spark war with Pakistan: top US official

The United States is worried that a terrorist attack in India could spark off a large-scale conflict with Pakistan, Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken told The Indian Express on Tuesday. “It remains a matter of real concern. The only thing worse than an intentional conflict is an unintentional conflict where an incident sparks something and it spirals out of control,” he said.
The prospect of conflict, he said, “is one of the reasons why it is so important, in our judgment, that India and Pakistan find ways to communicate, to reduce tensions, and ultimately to find a more cooperative relationship”. His remarks come days after the NSAs met in Bangkok for talks, weeks after a planned summit in Delhi broke down amid India’s insistence that the Pakistani delegation not meet Hurriyat leaders and Kashmir is kept out of the agenda.
Blinken, a former lawyer and journalist who serves as Secretary of State John Kerry’s principal deputy, also underlined US concerns about nuclear-weapons environment in South Asia, noting that “questions of strategic stability matter to us, to India, to Pakistan, to the entire world. So it is important to be engaged with Pakistan on that basis as well”. In recent months, several experts have expressed fears over Pakistan’s fast-growing arsenal of tactical nuclear warheads — small, light weapons designed to be deployed in battlefield, which raise the prospect of accidental use in a conflict.
Blinken said Pakistan had taken significant actions against terrorism, “in North Waziristan, in particular, and they have done it at some significant cost to themselves, most notably the horrific attack on a school that claimed lives of over 150 schoolchildren”. In meetings with US officials, he added, “their leadership, including [army chief] Gen Raheel Sharif, has said terrorism is terrorism, no matter where it is coming from.
That is an important statement, and one we are urging Pakistan to act on”. The US, he said, had “raised concerns about Lashkar-e-Taiba, also about Haqqani Network and the Pakistani Taliban.” In reply to a question why the US had failed to take tougher action on Pakistan for not acting against these groups, he said, “I think it goes to the incredible complexity of the problem, and the challenge in dealing with it.” Headed to Islamabad Wednesday to attend the multinational Heart of Asia conference on Afghanistan, Blinken said, “the investment that has already been made needs to be sustained, because it sends a message to the Taliban that, if they have in their heads the idea that they can somehow wait out the government or security forces, they are wrong”.
He said the US was not told by Pakistan’s intelligence that Taliban chief Mullah Muhammad Omar had died some years ago. In reply to a question on whether news of his demise was a surprise, he replied: “Yes, it was”.

indianexpress

War Beast: New T-90MS Tank Impervious to RPGs

The T-90MS, a new, fully modernized version of the Russian T-90 main battle tank, has displayed its capabilities at a testing range in the city of Nizhny Tagil in the Ural Mountains.The armored vehicle has successfully passed numerous tests under various weather and climate conditions and is already considered one of the most powerful main battle tanks in the world.

"Since man-portable anti-tank weapons have become the new trend nowadays, we decided to upgrade both the tank’s weaponry and defense systems. The tank can now hold its ground against a large number of enemy infantry armed with anti-tank weaponry," the head of the design department of the Transmash design bureau told the Russian TV channel Zvezda.
The T-90MS was outfitted with a remote-controlled machinegun mount and a new state-of-the-art turret and hull defense system comprised of removable dynamic defense modules.

The tank’s offensive capabilities have been greatly enhanced via the addition of a new fire control system. Its multichannel panoramic sights, which are equipped with an integrated thermal vision system, allow the tank commander to effectively keep track of the vehicle’s surroundings both during day and nighttime without being impaired by the low visibility caused by adverse weather conditions. A new tracking system and “hunter-shooter” mode give the tank crew the edge up during fights against multiple enemy targets. After marking a target, the commander is free to leave it to the gunner and scan the battlefield for more targets to engage – the tracking system keeps the tank’s weapon systems locked on the target.

The new tank’s crew comforts were improved as well, with the addition of automatic transmission, a rear view camera and two air conditioning units.

sputniknews

November 29, 2015

In underwater battle, India 'annihilates' American n-submarine

If the hostile entry of United States Navy 7th fleet in the crucial stage of the 1971 war for the liberation of Bangladesh sent a shiver down the spine of Indian military commanders, events of last month gave them some relief. Not surprisingly there is a spring in the stride of those from India's beleaguered submarine arm at the Vishakhapatnam-based Eastern Naval Command (ENC). "It is among the coolest things to happen in recent times," said a young officer.

An operation under the high profile naval exercise MALABAR, between the navies of India, USA and Japan, featured a simulated battle to hunt and destroy each other's submarines. Locked in this match were two prowlers, the INS Sindhudhvaj (S56), a Soviet-designed EKM class of conventional submarine and the USS City of Corpus Christi (SSN705), a nuclear-powered attack submarine which functions like a fighter plane - scramble and destroy enemy submarines and ships. The crew of both the vessels were asked to hunt the other down in a general area of the Bay of Bengal, based on 'available int'. They, subsequently dived.

Hours later, as they still searched the Americans were informed that the game was over already.

Unknown, they had been marked, tailed and suitably 'annihilated' by the 533mm torpedos 'fired' by their Indian counterparts from on board the INS Sindhudhvaj. What came as a clincher to the Indian side was the tool which detected the USS Corpus Christi - the 'made in India' Ushus SONAR (Sound Navigation and Ranging) which was recently installed. "The way it happens is that the Sindhudhvaj recorded the Hydrophonic Effect (HE) - simply put, underwater noise - of the nuclear powered submarine and managed to positively identify it before locking on to it. Being an exercise what did not happen was the firing," explained a naval officer. The HE thus captured can easily slide into the elaborate database that the any navy maintains for classifying and identifying foreign submarines. A US embassy spokesperson said, "We have no information on the results to share."

What will lend succour to the navy's submarine fleet is yet another validation of the kill potential of its premier platform. India has nine such submarines apart from four German-designed Shishumar class submarines. After years of disallowing its presence in any naval exercise involving foreign navies - attributed to the IN's desire to not its HE be recorded by a foreign player - this edition of MALABAR was the first time the Indian Navy (IN) allowed an EKM to take part.Scoring over a US submarine also underscores the reputation that precedes an EKM submarine. Not without reason do the western navies term them 'black holes in the ocean' - a measure of how difficult it is to detect once submerged.

The six-day MALABAR exercise began on October 14 and saw the sea-going phase begin from October 16. Underwater warfare was among the most important aspects of this exercise. India allowing the participation of INS Sindhudhvaj can be linked with the fact that China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has a much bigger fleet of EKM submarines, 12 in all, which it purchased from Russia from 1990. The PLA Navy's rising profile has seen it becoming the biggest maritime power in Asia with over 300 assets which includes a menacing underwater fleet of 62 submarines. The PLA Navy has also initiated the deployment of its submarines, in addition to its surface ships, in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) - a region far removed from China's traditional area of maritime interest which would include the Taiwan Strait, East China Sea and South China Sea, apart from the Pacific Ocean.

Veteran submariner, Vice Admiral KN Sushil (retd), said, "I would have been upset had we failed at achieving what we did. A nuclear powered submarine always makes more noise vis a vis a conventional one and thus the results do not surprise me."

FACTS

INS Sindhudhvaj, is a conventional diesel electric submarine and was commissioned into the Indian Navy in June 1987. Her present home is the Vishakhapatnam based Eastern Naval Command.
USS City of Corpus Christi is a Los Angeles class, nuclear powered attack submarine and was commissioned in the US Navy in January 1983. Her present home is Pearl Harbour.

MALABAR 2015 saw the participation:

IN - Stealth frigate INS Shivalik, guided missile destroyer INS Ranvijay, frigate INS Betwa & INS Shakti, fleet support ship.
US Navy - Aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, Cruiser USS Normandy, Littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth, USS City of Corpus Christi, F18 fighter and Poseidon 8A maritime reconnaissance aircraft
Japan Maritime Self Defense Force - Destroyer JS Fuyuzuki and SH60K integral helicopter.

indiatoday

November 28, 2015

Bharat Forge to build Rs 500-cr defence hub in Telangana

Close on the heels of the Tata-Boeing joint venture, the next high-profile company that is set to invest in Telangana's booming defence and aerospace manufacturing sector is Pune-based multi-national conglomerate Bharat Forge Limited.

Telangana industries secretary Arvind Kumar revealed this on Friday while speaking at the curtain-raiser event of the second edition of Defence & Aerosupply India that will be held between November 30 and December 2 in the city.Kumar said that the company will be investing over Rs 500 crore in the state and is set to apply for land next week. "We know that they will be applying for around 40 acres of land next week. Of this, 10 acres will be provided at the Adibatla aerospace and precision engineer park and the rest will be allotted elsewhere," Kumar said, without disclosing the exact location of the land parcel.

Earlier this year, Bharat Forge had announced a 51:49 joint venture with Israel's Rafael Advanced Defence Systems to manufacture high-tech defence components in the country. In fact, the company had said that it would set up its JV unit near Hyderabad.

Bharat Forge Limited is the flagship company of the $2.5-billion Kalyani Group and a global provider of safety and critical components/solutions to various industrial sectors including automotive, railways, power, construction & mining, aerospace, marine and oil & gas.

Speaking about the robust defence and aerospace manufacturing ecosystem in Hyderabad, Kumar said that in the last one year, the state has attracted over Rs 1,000 crore in investments in this sector.

Giving examples of the companies that have picked Telangana, he said that there were around 10 precision engineering companies that are coming up near Adibatla and the total investment has been around Rs 200 crore. This apart, Chennai-based Voith too has committed an investment of Rs 100 crore over the next four years to shift its operation to Hyderabad, the industries secretary added. Speaking about the upcoming conference, Kumar said a 10-member French delegation from Bordeaux Aeronautics will be present at the event and the state government is mulling setting up an aviation training centre in partnership with French collaboration.

The three-day global conclave is expected to see participation from players such as Airbus, Boing, Sikorsky, Embraer, Thales India, Finmeccanica, Eurocopter, Dassault, UTC, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, and the IAMF (Israeli Aerospace Manufacturing Federation), among others, the officer added. - timesofindia

Whodunnit: The truth behind Turkey downing a Russian plane

Turkeman tribesmen, on the Syrian side of the border with Turkey, calling themselves the Syrian Liberation Army, are actually in harness to protect routes on which oil tankers have been plying regularly from Syria to Turkey for the Western market. This smuggling enterprise is controlled by Bilal Erdogan, son of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. The whodunnit nature of the incident is explained by the extraordinary pressure on the President's office brought by this extra constitutional entity. Ever since the Russians entered the Syrian theatre as part of a broader understanding with the US, these tankers and the mercenary soldiers protecting them have come under heavy Russian fire.
Moscow would be justified in being somewhat puzzled that neither the US nor NATO, with its vast intelligence apparatus, spotted 90,000 barrels of oil being "clandestinely" transported over the border. Profits from this enterprise finances groups which constitute the ISIS. It is universally acknowledged that Turkey has been most enthusiastic and active in supporting anti-Assad militancy in Syria. When some of the groups patronized by Turkey, mostly affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood, mutated into the Islamic state, Turkey tried its best to have this region of its operation, in Northern Syria, declared a no-fly-zone.
The official Russian press note quotes verbatim what Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, on November 26: "by shooting down a Russian plane on a counter-terrorist mission of the Russian Aerospace Force in Syria, and one that did not violate Turkey's air space, the Turkish government has in effect sided with ISIS."
Lavrov added: "Turkey's action appear premeditated, planned and undertaken with a specific object." Even Washington has not come to Turkey's rescue. On the specifics of the shooting down of the Russian fighter jet, US officials maintained the Russian plane was in the Turkish air space for "no more than 17 seconds" during which period "10 warnings" could not have been given to the Russian pilot as Turkey claims.
Even among Western countries who recently forged an alliance against the ISIS there are skeptics who see Turkey playing both sides of the street. There are serious suspicions that the shooting down of the plane had been planned. As soon as the Russian pilot and his navigator ejected from the jet in a mountainous, inhospitable terrain, their parachutes were instantly targeted by machine guns which were clearly expecting the shooting of the Russian plane in their area. This area was not in Turkey. .. While the pilot, Sergey Rumyantsev, was killed, the navigator is alive. He is being treated in Syria. He has confirmed what would otherwise be speculative stories emanating from Moscow.
There are other issues the US and NATO must be confidentially sorting out with Russia. Written into the understanding between Washington and Moscow was an obligation to give prior notice of every aerial activity to the alliance partners. In this instance, neither Washington nor NATO were informed of the airspace violation by Russia and that Turkey proposed to take drastic action against the Russian aircraft.   Recently, an Ankara-Moscow hotline was established to avert just the sort of mishap which have generated fears of a wider conflict. A senior Turkish official turned the argument against the Russians.
"Russians are under global sanctions and their purchase of oil from ISIS for delivery to the Syrian regime is in violation of these sanctions."   The official has, in his armoury, the transcript of the warnings issued to the erring Russian pilot. But the transcript only records warning and no response and, by that token, is weak testimony. That Iraq and Syria are overcrowded with divergent interests became clear in February when Iraq's Army shot down two British planes allegedly carrying weapons for the ISIS in the Anbar province.
The incident was never denied largely because Iraq Parliament's National Security and Defence Committee had photos of the planes that had been shot down.   And now that Prime Minister David Cameron is rearing to go into Syria with airstrikes (if only he can coax a nod of approval from his parliament), he is probably eager to reach out for the piece of the Syrian pie he could not lay his hands on all these months.   An amusing sketch that surfaces on the social networks at intervals shows Uncle Sam seated in an ornate carriage. An Arab, looking rather like the Saudi King, is in the driver's seat. He has a firm grip on reins strapped to four burly, hooded ISIS militants.
The message, consumed avidly in Iraq, is that ISIS was, at one stage a Saudi-US asset. Some of this activity boomeranged on the US when an embarrassed Defence Secretary Ashton Carter had to announce to the press that a $500 million training programme in Syria had been withdrawn after Syrian opposition trained by the US had handed their weapons to militants and sought safe passage to heaven knows where. So far the Syrian-Iraqi terrain has been the graveyard of many regional and Western reputations. Russians must keep their fingers crossed.

economictimes

November 27, 2015

In boost for 'Make in India', Dassault may manufacture Rafale fighter aircraft in India

India's largest-ever military deal is likely to bring in big business for the private sector with the French side looking to set up a production centre for the Rafale fighter aircraft as well as a low-cost executive jet in India, besides sharing vital aircraft technology for the indigenous Tejas project. Officials familiar with the project have told ET that major partners for this 'Make in India' project are currently being identified by the French side and are likely to include Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence Systems, Noida-based Samtel and Bharat Electronics. These officials, both Indian and French, spoke on the condition they not be identified.
Spokespersons of the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group told ET "there is no development". Officials on the French side told ET, on condition of anonymity, that the agreement between Rafale and an Indian partner will be on the lines of the 2012 agreement between the French company and the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries. The NDA government had reformatted the UPA government deal and ordered 36 aircraft, instead of 126.
The Rafale fighter deal, which will bring in at least $4.5 billion into 'Make in India' projects as per the contract being negotiated, is set to involve a third production line for the aircraft in India, French officials have told ET.While two lines for the fighter are currently active in France at the same facility, a third line in India would take care of export orders for the fighters and also possible future orders by the Indian Navy and Air Force. The line would also support the production of a low-cost variant of the 'Falcon' executive jet for the Indian and Asian markets."It will not be possible to roll out any of the 36 fighters being acquired by India from the production line as it would take time to set up but future orders, including exports, will be fulfilled with the new line," a person involved in the discussions has told ET.
At most, the final painting of the last ten aircraft to be delivered to India could be carried out at the Indian assembly line. This itself is a very high technology process as the fighter has a special anti-radar coat," the person added. Besides the joint production facilities in India, the French side is also set to transfer some key technologies to DRDO that would benefit the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) project. A complete list of the technology to be transferred is being finalised but would include several systems to make the LCA more effective.
Technology to be transferred includes the air intake system for the fighter, an undercarriage for the naval variant of the LCA, cutting edge radar absorbing painting technology as well as an integrated production line software and management system for the fighter aircraft. While the main Rafale contract is likely to be signed this financial year, as was reported by ET, a separate contract for armament systems will be signed at a later date with French company MBDA. A partnership for transfer of technology and production could be inked with the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) that specialises in advanced armaments.
Engineer-General Stephane Reb, Director of the International Directorate of the DGA (General Directorate for Armament) of the French Ministry of Defence is in New Delhi this week to finalise the inter-governmental agreement draft that is likely to be signed before January 26 when French President Francois Hollande will visit India as as the Chief Guest at the Republic Day Parade

economictimes

They knew the exact time and the exact place': Putin accuses US of leaking flight path of doomed jet to Turkey

Russian president Vladimir Putin has accused the U.S. of being complicit in the destruction of its military jet two days ago - suggesting the Americans knew exactly when and where it was travelling.

In a press conference at the Kremlin tonight, Putin said the Russians had given prior information to the U.S. of the flight path of the plane - but the U.S. had 'leaked' the information to Turkey.

In other developments, Putin's dreaded S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems - mobilised in the wake of the jet's destruction - were photographed being unloaded from military transports in Syria.

He also vowed to join France in coordinating bombing campaigns against ISIS forces and agreed to share intelligence information.

It is hoped the move will be the start of closer ties between Moscow and the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition following the Paris terror attacks - despite the animosity brewing over the downed jet.

Putin told gathered media: 'The American side, which leads the coalition that Turkey belongs to, knew about the location and time of our planes' flights, and we were hit exactly there and at that time.

'Why did we pass this information to the Americans? Either they were not controlling what their allies were doing, or they are leaking this information all over the place.'

Ahead of the conference, Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan traded barbs, with the Russian leader saying he was waiting for an apology and Erdogan ruling out any such move.

Putin has dismissed as 'rubbish' Turkey's claim that it would not have shot down the jet if it had known it was Russian.

'They [our planes] have identification signs and these are well visible. Instead of... ensuring this never happens again, we are hearing unintelligible explanations and statements that there is nothing to apologise about.'

Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin's feared S-400 anti-aircraft battalions have landed in Syria ready to destroy any threats to his airforce.

The surface-to-air missile systems are capable of striking down targets up to 250miles away and were instantly deployed to the region in the wake of Tuesday's confrontation.

Pictures emerged today of the state-of-the-art missile systems' arrival to the battlefields of Syria, while the war of words between Putin and Erdogan intensified.

The S-400s are based in Syria's coastal province of Latakia, just 30miles from the border with Turkey and are capable of striking targets a huge ranges with deadly precision.

Today Putin defended his decision to mobilise the weaponry after the attack by Turkey which he considered a betrayal.

In a joint press conference with Francois Hollande at the Kremlin, he said: 'We did not have those systems in Syria [previously] because we believed that our airforce was working at an altitude which would not be reachable by terrorists.

'They do not have this equipment capable of shooting down the aircraft at 3,000 to 4,000 metres.

'We didn't even think that we could receive a strike from a party that we thought to be our partner.

'If we thought of this before, we would have established the systems capable to protect our aircraft.

'The reason we didn't do this is because we thought Turkey to be a friendly country. We are our establishing our system S-400 which is capable of long range strikes and it is one of the most effective systems of this type in the world.'

The S-400's range means its missiles could reach deep into Turkey or pose a potential threat to US-led coalition planes - adding yet another dangerous element to an already volatile mix of competing military interests in Syria.

'It's a capable weapons system that poses a significant threat to anyone,' a US official speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP. 'There are significant concerns related to air operations in Syria.'

Accusations flung back and forth from both Russia and Turkey in the wake of the confrontation have further aggravated the situation.

Putin has accused the U.S. of being complicit in the destruction of its jet
The Russian jet was downed by Turkey after it entered Turkish airspace
He claimed Russia gave the U.S. the flight path data for the doomed aircraft
This was either 'leaked' or it 'does not control what its allies are doing'
Meanwhile, today Russia's fearsome S-400 missile systems arrived in Syria
Putin has also agreed to coordinate airstrikes with France against ISIS

dailymail

November 26, 2015

Rafale deal to be signed on eve of Hollande’s India visit

India and France are set to sign the deal for 36 Rafale fighter aircraft on the eve of French President François Hollande’s visit to India for the Republic Day celebrations. The draft contract, which envisages supply of the first fighter within 36 months of signing the deal, has been finalised. The supply of full complement of 36 fighters to the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be completed within seven years of signing the deal. The induction of the 36 fighters will add to the IAF squadron strength which is now down to 34. At least 44 fighter squadrons are needed to be comfortable against China and Pakistan.
The proposal for buying 36 Rafale fighters from France in a government-to-government deal was announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Paris in April. It followed a long-drawn tender for acquisition of 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) for the IAF in which the Rafale had been selected as the L-1 or lowest bidder after a decade of evaluation, testing and negotiations. Mired in controversies over pricing and transfer of technology, the process was scrapped by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar earlier this year.
Industry sources said the price of a Rafale fighter in the current deal has been fixed at the 2007 base rate plus an escalation formula agreed upon by both sides. As per commercial bids received for 126 fighters, plus an increment of 5.5-7.5 per cent per year applied on different sub-systems, items and services as per the escalation formula, the final price for the 36 fighters is expected to be around $8.3 bn. The draft agreement states that all 36 fighters will be supplied by Dassault Aviation in a fly-away condition. To avoid any complications, the two sides agreed for the same SOP (standard of preparation or technical specifications) for the Rafale fighters as agreed upon in the tender for 126 aircraft. Sources said Dassault was keen to include improvements in the SOP, with limited change in pricing, but the Indian side did not want to introduce new elements in the negotiations.
Defence ministry sources told The Indian Express that the clause for 50 per cent offsets, as mandated in the 126 aircraft proposal, shall be applicable to the current deal. According to industry sources, the offsets commitment will now be fulfilled through a private vendor. This is a major difference from the earlier deal, where public-sector Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was to make 108 fighters in India. Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Defence Limited (RDL) is said to be the leading contender for discharging the offsets for the 36 fighter deal. Defence ministry sources say that Dassault and RDL have to fulfil the offset commitment.Confirming it is constructing a greenfield aerospace facility in Nagpur which will start production in FY 2016-17, RDL said it has not entered into an agreement with Dassault Aviation so far.

indianexpress