UPSC 2015 CDS II GK Paper

In April 2015, India and France agreed to conclude an intergovernmental agreement with respect to Rafale Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft platform. The agreement signed plans to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets. The original plan was to buy 18 jets off the shelf and make the remaining 108 in India by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) under a technology transfer deal, but the talks did not make headway over the issues of pricing and also Dassault's reluctance to stand guarantee for the jets built by HAL.