The Rafale argument has actually slowed down the Indian Air Force's plan to procure 114 fighter jets, with the process of acquiring them yet to get the necessary 'Acceptance of Necessity' from the defense ministry.
The IAF has been waiting for new fighter jets since 2000 and its hopes were raised after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in April that India had rolled out the procedure to obtain them, with a 'Request for Information' issued. He had assured to speed up the process and not "waste time like the UPA".
However, eight months on, there has been little movement on the critical purchase as the powerful political argument over the Rafale fighter jets deal – with the resistance Congress accusing the Modi government of dishonesty in the gaining from France – has thrown a spanner in the works.
"The Rafale controversy has led to a fear issue which is delaying the whole process," the source said. "The fact is that the IAF had been waiting for the fighters since 2000. The government, thankfully, went in for an emergency purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets, but this will not meet the urgent need of the IAF."
The proposal for the 114 jets has been going about several desks in the government for months.
A second source, however, denied there was any delay and discarded the clarification that the Rafale controversy was accountable.
"You can say something is delayed only when there is a fixed timetable. The RFI was issued in April this year and it is hoped that the AON will be issued soon."
The IAF, the second source claimed, will be able to raise a full regiment of the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas by March and this will ensure that the strength does not fall below 30 squadrons of fighter aircraft.
The IAF has seen a stable decline in its combatant squadrons and at least two more squadrons are due to be phased out by March, bringing the strength down to just 29 as against the sanctioned strength of 42 squadrons. The original plan was to decommission three squadrons by March.
The last time IAF had 42 squadrons was back in 2002.
The IAF's calculation says it will need at least 45 squadrons to fight a possible two-front war. But achieving that target in the near future appears extremely demanding as more squadrons retire as the aircraft complete their maximum flying cycle.
Seven fighter aircraft are in the argument for the mega-deal, valued to be worth over $20 billion. While there is no fixed timetable that needs to be adhered to, it was hoped that the process would be hurried through.
Following the signing of the deal for 36 Rafale, the government and the IAF were working on bringing out a tender for single-engine fighter aircraft, keeping the cost in mind.
The defense ministry, however, springs a surprise by questioning the need for a single-engine foreign fighter when the inhabitant LCA programme was on. This caused the IAF to rearrange itself and bring out an RFI in April, which did not limit it to single-engine fighters.
Industry experts wonder how this will play out, because one of the primary factors for the selection of aircraft will be cost, besides technical parameters.
"When it comes to cost, the single-engine will always be cheaper than a twin-engine," an industry source said.
Former Air Chief Marshal Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy said he hoped the process would be speeded up.
"There is no doubt that the IAF needs more fighters. The IAF has come out with numbers, projections, and even said so in Supreme Court. Hopefully, then, the process for the fighters will be faster".
