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Rafale allowed to take part in Indian aircraft bid

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-05-22 15:53

NEW DELHI-- France's fighter Rafale is back to race for a multi-million-US dollar arms purchase project of the Indian Air Force (IAF) after some high-level diplomatic intervention by Paris, local daily The Times of India reported on Friday.

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India is having field trials for the supply of 126 multi-role combat aircraft for the IAF with an estimated budget of $420 million.

Rafale had earlier been ejected out of the race by the defense ministry for failing to respond properly in its technical bid towards the qualitative requirements drawn up by the IAF.

The French company Dassault Aviation, the producer of Rafale, has now supplied "missing answers," so the Defense Procurement Board of India has decided to allow Rafale to return to the field trials, the newspaper quoted defense ministry sources as saying.

Rafale will now be part of the trials due in early July or August, along with American F A-18 Super Hornet of Boeing, and F- 16 Falcon of Lockheed Martin, Russian MiG-35 of United Aircraft Corporation, Swedish Gripen of Saab and Eurofighter Typhoon of consortium of British, German, Spanish and Italian companies.