Vipin Vijayan asked: Should India have invested billions in Rafale? What’s the future of Tejas? Will the Rafale really plug IAF’s squadron gap?

Reply: Refer to the following earlier and current publications by IDSA faculty on the issue: Rafale MMRCA Deal: Last Minute Glitches? By Vivek Kapur, August 30, 2012, athttp://idsA. Vinod Kumar Vinod Kumarin/idsacomments/RafaleMMRCADealLastMinuteGlitches_vkapur_300812 Transformation of the Indian Air Force over the Next Decade (Issue Brief) By Vivek Kapur, June 13, 2012, at http://idsA. Vinod Kumar Vinod Kumarin/system/files/IB_TransformationoftheIAF.pdf Major Issues of Immediate Concern for the Indian Air Force By Vivek Kapur, June 11, 2012, athttp://idsA. Vinod Kumar Vinod Kumarin/idsacomments/MajorIssuesofImmediateConcernfortheIndianAirForce_VivekKapur_110612 The Rafale: An Opportunity Towards Indigenous Aircraft Design And Manufacture By Vivek Kapur, February 17, 2012, athttp://www.idsA. Vinod Kumar Vinod Kumarin/idsacomments/TheRafaleAnOpportunityTowardsIndigenousAircraftDesignAndManufacture_VivekKapur_160112 MMRCA: Counter Point, By Ramesh Phadke, February 13, 2012, athttp://idsA. Vinod Kumar Vinod Kumarin/idsacomments/MMRCACounterPoint_rphadke_130212 The air force gets its ideal platform By Ajey Lele, February 11, 2012, athttp://dailypioneer.com/columnists/item/51038-the-air-force-gets-its-ideal-platform.html Rafale Wins the MMRCA Competition By Ramesh Phadke, February 6, 2012, athttp://idsA. Vinod Kumar Vinod Kumarin/idsacomments/RafaleWinstheMMRCACompetition_rphadke_060212 Dogfight: India’s MMRCA Decision (Book review) By Ramesh Phadke, February 7, 2011, athttp://idsA. Vinod Kumar Vinod Kumarin/bookreview/DogfightIndiasMMRCADecision_rphadke_070211 MMRCA: A difficult choice for the IAF By Ramesh Phadke, May 19, 2010, athttp://idsA. Vinod Kumar Vinod Kumarin/idsacomments/MMRCAAdifficultchoicefortheIAF_rphadke_190510 Rafale: the doomed French bird By Guillem Monsonis, May 14, 2009, athttp://idsA. Vinod Kumar Vinod Kumarin/idsastrategiccomments/RafalethedoomedFrenchbird_GMonsonis_140509