india

Updated: May 26, 2019 23:21 IST

An Indian Air Force (IAF) team comprising computer forensic experts is in France to probe if documents or designs were stolen or copied during the break-in at the Rafale project management team office in the European country last Sunday, said a senior defence ministry official who did not want to be named.

“The team will get first hand feedback about the incident from France,” the official said.

The office in question oversees the implementation of the project for 36 Rafale multi-role fighters, which India is acquiring. According to preliminary reports, three rooms were accessed. French plane-maker Dassault Aviation has an office complex in Saint-Cloud and the five-member Indian project management team operates from the same premises.

The Rafale project team is headed by a Group Captain-rank officer who looks after several issues, including the production timelines and training of Indian personnel who have to be trained for maintenance and flying operations of the plane.

India has ordered 36 Rafale jets from France in a deal worth ~59,000 crore, which is at the centre of a political controversy in the country. The first Rafale jet, manufactured by Dassault Aviation, is expected to be handed over to IAF in France in September, before the first batch of four fighter jets fly to India next April.

India and France signed the deal for two Rafale squadrons (36 planes) in September 2016 as an emergency purchase to arrest a worrying slide in IAF’s capabilities. The squadrons will be based at Ambala in Haryana and Hasimara in West Bengal, covering the northern and eastern fronts. All 36 fighter planes will arrive by September 2022.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s decision to enter into a government-to-government deal with France to buy the fighters was announced in April 2015. This replaced the United Progressive Alliance’s decision to buy 126 Rafale aircraft, 108 of which were to be made in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, using parts imported from France.