Story ID: 622
India's Rafale Buy Spurs Offset Biz
By: Neelam Mathews
Caption: Small and medium companies to enter into partnerships to provide offsets for the $4.24 billion MMRCA deal.
Word Count: 241
	
The clearance for the acquisition of 36 Dassault Rafales as part of India’s medium multi-role combat aircraft bid, following Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to France in April, is attracting small and medium companies to enter into partnerships to provide offsets for the $4.24 billion deal. The latest to enter the fray is India’s OIS-AT (Hall 5 D210), which has signed a joint venture with French company Rafaut (Hall 2B C157), a specialist in weapons for aircraft interface devices.
	
OIS-AT (Offset India Solutions-Advanced Technology) will “leverage Rafaut’s know-how on the manufacture of pylons and allied interface equipment that carry munitions and stores on aircraft and helicopters, at a new facility planned in Bengaluru [formerly Bangalore],” said the Indian company.
	
Universal or specific pylon design, development and production are parts of Rafaut’s core business. For instance, its universal PU708 pylon can carry 30-inch standard armaments such as the SCALP cruise missile, GBU24 bombs, Rafaut 730 triple store rack and Rafale additional fuel tanks.

The joint venture will be an exclusive collaboration for R&D, transfer of technology, manufacturing and marketing, as well as sales and services for a range of weapon-to-aircraft interface devices and flight control equipment and subsystems, according to OIS. “Rafaut has much to offer by way of technology and innovative design with state-of-the-art composite manufacturing techniques,” said Sanjay Bhandari, founding chairman and managing director of the OIS Group.