French fighter aircraft maker Dassault Aviation landing an Indian air force contract for its Rafale jets has raised many an eyebrow. The company outbid the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) consortium which was pitching its Eurofighter jet to India. Till the last minute, it had seemed that the latter was the favourite but it is learned now that it placed a quote higher than the French.

The tender for medium multi-role combat aircrafts (MMRCA) had been floated with the idea of filling the gap between the air force’s future fleet of light combat aircrafts (LCA) and the in-service Su-30MKI air dominance fighter jets. With the constant lag in trials being conducted to induct the LCA, the government decided to push through with the MMRCA.

The bidding war saw some heavy lobbying, especially by the US, since this was its first bid for a massive Indian contract. They had put their flagship F-16 and its bigger cousin, the F-18, on offer. They even took a couple of filmstars and businessmen for a waltz in the sky.

But the Indian air force was not impressed. With Pakistan possessing a fleet of F-16s, India was looking for a jet that would put it at least a rung up. As the trials progressed, it was revealed that the F-18 had acceleration problems.

But the biggest upset was the disqualification of Russia's Mikoyan Gurevich-35 or MiG 35.

Being a founding member of the Cold War era non-alligned movement, India was traditionally closer to the erstwhile Soviet Union which gave Indians high-end weaponry at throwaway prices. Even after splitting up, Russia had preferential defence goods deals with India. The expulsion of Russia's Mig-35 early on in the competition showed that India was not going to be tied down by its historical friendship with Russia.

In fact, it the usual foreign policy considerations had nothing to do with France bagging the deal. Russia and India were having problems with the Russians refusing to even have a joint exercise with the Indian army. The Americans were up to their usual arm-twisting with the Indo-US nuclear deal being their trump card. The Swedes were in full form, advertising in every nook and corner around the North Block including the bus stands. The Europeans and the French weren't far behind as well.

But the air force and the government stood firm. The defence minister repeatedly clarified that there the air force will be set no conditions to pick the jets it needed. Thus assured, the air force bravely rejected the American offer and decided that the Eurofighter and the Rafale were the two aircrafts it preferred the most. In fact, the final choice is no surprise as the Indian Airforce already operates French-made Mirage 2000 which had proven its mettle during the Kargil conflict.

Interestingly, the French had faltered at the beginning of the $10.2 billion competition. They resubmitted their bid and were allowed to rejoin the race. Ever since, they have  not looked back.

What is more interesting is that the French cannot offer us anything more geopolitically than they already have. Perhaps, choosing an American plane would have gotten the country a lot more. But the top brass held their ground and shortlisted the two most advanced fighter jets in the world at the moment.

The French can now uncork their famous bubbly and bask in their president Nicholas Sarkozy's endorsement of the deal. Sarkozy had noted that the deal was "very high-level, fair and transparent".

But real deal begins now. Minute details have to be worked out, cost overruns calculated and technology transfers discussed before the deal is signed in the next six months.

All one can say, is "Bonne Chance", to both the French and the Indian establishments!