France Offers To Shift Full Manufacturing Of Panther Choppers Along With Rafale's 70 Per Cent Assembly Line To India

In a major development, France has offered to completely shift the assembly line of the Panther medium utility helicopters to India, in addition to 70 per cent of Dassault Rafale fighter jet's assembly line, reports Hindustan Times.

France has offered to move the assembly lines of the Panther choppers and Rafale fighter jets to India under the government's "Make in India" rubric with full transfer of technology.

Built by Airbus under the title AS565 MBe, Panther choppers are all-weather multi-role medium helicopters which have been designed for operations from the ship decks, offshore locations and land-based sites.

France has also offered help in the development of the engine for the twin-engine Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) and Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

The offers were made to the Indian leaders by President Macron's Diplomatic Advisor Emmanuel Bonne who was in India earlier this week to participate in the 34th India-France strategic dialogue. During the visit, Bonne held engagements with National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and also with Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi.