Dassault responds to Rafale rejection

Dassault today came out strongly against the Indian Ministry of Defense decision to eliminate the Rafale from consideration for the 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contract.

Speaking to StratPost, an unnamed source was bitter at the decision, especially in light of StratPost’s report on the reasons for the rejection. “Look if it is really about something like Thrust/Weight ratio that can be decided on the basis of physical verification. So far, they are making judgments only on the basis of paper presentations,” said one source at Dassault, who refused to be identified.

“No aircraft is designed according to the RfP (Reference for Proposal). Other bidders might say on paper that they meet the requirements of the RfP. But if the others bidders say they meet the RfP requirements they are lying,” said the source.

“We cannot claim what we don’t have. But the others are doing what has been done before. In an earlier helicopter contract claims were made on paper, but at the time of physical verification and trials, the tender process was canceled,” he said, adding, “And this is exactly what will happen again with this contract,” referring to allegedly exaggerated claims made on paper by companies bidding for the single largest defense contract in the world.