NEW DELHI: The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has given approval to the purchase of long-range SCALP missiles for Rafale jets and additional missiles for Russia-made S400 aerial shield system, a govt source told TOI.A day after the DAC’s approval for purchase of 114 Rafale jets, defence secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said on Friday that this will be the first time French fighter jets will be manufactured outside France and their delivery to India will start from 2028 onwards, starting from naval variants and then IAF variants.While 250-km-range SCALP air-launched cruise missiles, which are designed for deep-penetration attacks, were used by Rafale jets to target terror headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan’s Muridke and Bahawalpur districts during Operation Sindoor, missiles of the S400 system thwarted aerial attacks like cruise missiles from Pakistan last May. The SCALP missiles, which are equipped with a combination of inertial navigation, GPS, terrain-reference navigation and an infrared imaging seeker in the terminal phase, attacked Pakistan’s terror and military bases with pinpoint accuracy.

S 400The defence secretary told a news agency, “It will be a govt-to-govt deal for 114 Rafale jets, no intermediaries, full transparency in the project, and full authority to integrate Indian weapons and Indian systems into the aircraft.”In the earlier French deals for 36 Rafale jets and 26 marine Rafales, the French govt did not provide India with the critical source code for the aircraft’s radar and weapon systems, limiting India’s ability to independently integrate indigenous missiles like Astra. Without the source code, India is not able to perform “unilateral upgrades”, necessitating reliance on French firms for future improvements. However, the defence secretary’s clarification made it clear that for the 114 Rafale jets, India won’t face any source code problem and will have complete authority to integrate indigenous missiles.Though TOI’s Thursday story mentioned about ‘Dassault-HAL collaboration’ for Rafale jets production, HAL has clarified that it has not received any communication from either defence ministry or Dassault for local production. Dassault has to take a call on its India partner.In Paris, French engine maker Safran CEO Olivier Andries said on Friday the company is ready to build an engine assembly line in India to meet the country’s requirements for local production as Indian and French govts are gearing up to discuss the purchase of 114 more Rafale jets during President Emmanuel Macron’s visit. Safran, which makes M-88 engines for the Dassault Aviation jet, will also buy parts from local suppliers to support India’s aerospace industry.