Munir likening Pakistan to dumper truck confession of Islamabad's failure: Rajnath Singh

The Defence Minister also said Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir shouldn’t have any delusion about India’s ability to hit hard in the wake of the Operation Sindoor.

New Delhi: In a major development on India’s future combat aircraft development, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said India would be collaborating with French major Safran to develop the engines for the home-grown fifth generation fighter aircraft.

“We have taken forward steps for building fifth generation fighter aircraft. We have also moved towards manufacturing the aircraft's engine in India itself. We are about to start engine manufacturing work in India with the French company Safran,” Rajnath said here.

The Defence Minister’s announcement at a conclave is the first official word on the selection of the partner for the critical engine development. The two other companies that were in the fray are General Electric (USA) and Rolls Royce (UK).

The French major will be partnering with the Defence Research and Development Organisation to develop the engine, which may power the later versions of the AMCA as engine development is a prolonged procedure.

In May, the Defence Ministry approved the “execution model” for the AMCA programme, setting in motion a government-backed scheme to design, develop and manufacture fifth generation combat jets for the Indian Air Force.

Bengaluru-based Aeronautical Development Agency was selected as the lead organisation to execute the programme with industry partnership – be it in the public sector or private.

The Union government’s go-ahead came more than a year after the Cabinet Committee on Security, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, green-lighted the AMCA project, sanctioning Rs 15,000 crore to design and develop five prototypes.

Safran Aircraft Engine is in the process of constructing a new MRO (maintenance, repair, overhaul) facility at Hyderabad for the M88 engine used in Rafale combat jets that are being flown by the Indian Air Force. The Hyderabad centre will be a global facility servicing engines coming from other countries too.

At the conclave, the Defence Minister said Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir shouldn’t have any delusion about India’s ability to hit hard after Operation Sindoor.

On Gen Munir’s comment equating Pakistan’s economy with a dumper truck and Indian economy with a Ferrari or Mercedes – a statement for which the General was trolled widely – Rajnath said it was an admission of Pakistan’s failure in the last seven decades.

"If two countries got independence together, and one built an economy like a sports car with hard work, right policies and vision, while the other remains stuck in failure, it is their own doing. This is not a joke, it is a confession,” the Defence Minister said

Gen Munir in a recent address to the Pakistani diaspora in Tampa, Florida, reportedly said, "India is shining like a Mercedes, coming on a highway like a Ferrari, but we are a dumper truck full of gravel. If the truck hits the car, who is going to be the loser?"

Pakistan should not have any delusion in its mind after Operation Sindoor, Singh said, in an apparent reference to Munir's comments that the neighbouring country could use its nuclear weapons to take down India and "half the world" in the event of an existential threat in any future conflict with New Delhi.

“We must break this delusion of the Pakistani Army. After Operation Sindoor, such a delusion should not have arisen in their minds in the first place,” Rajnath Said.