New Delhi: The French government has firmly ruled out transferring the critical source codes for the SPECTRA electronic warfare suite and other core electronic systems as part of the ongoing negotiations with India for 114 Rafale fighter jets, as per the French business outlet L’Essentiel de l’Éco. This restriction will deny India an ability to independently integrate certain sensors and weapons, or customise the aircraft’s software, without France’s approval and support.In an interview to The Wire, US Air Force veteran Lieutenant General David Deptula had noted that without source code, India was “unable to rapidly reprogram the Rafale for indigenous munitions or optimise data-link interoperability”, which he argued contributed to the loss of at least one Rafale during Operation Sindoor. India has never formally accepted the loss of a Rafale fighter jet in the military clash with Pakistan.In an interview to CNBC-TV18 on July 8, 2025, defence secretary R.K. Singh said that “you have used the term Rafales in the plural, I can assure you that is absolutely not correct”. His response seemed to implicitly accept that the Indian Air Force (IAF) lost one Rafale on the night of May 7, 2025 in the conflict with Pakistan.As per the news report, France views these source codes as proprietary products developed over decades which cannot be shared with any other country. On February 13, defence secretary Singh had stated that “full authority to integrate Indian weapons and Indian systems” into the Rafale aircraft would be a “highlight” of the acquisition.Some reports suggest a plug-and-play middle ground where France might provide application programming interfaces (APIs) instead of the full source code, allowing India to integrate its own systems without seeing the underlying proprietary logic. The United Arab Emirates is the other country that has been offered and is already implementing this plug-and-play capability for the Rafale.As the first international customer for the Rafale F4 standard, the UAE secured an agreement to integrate its own indigenous guided munitions using the APIs. Countries like Egypt, Qatar and Greece also operate the Rafale, but they largely rely on the standard French/NATO weapons package.India currently operates the F3-R standard Rafale jets with 13 India-specific enhancements, while the 114 aircraft in the new deal will be of the F4 standard. Reports suggest that of the 114 jets, India is negotiating for an option for the final 24 to be the next-generation F5 standard.According to the French outlet, the indigenisation rate for the aircraft to be assembled in India would start at 30% for the first locally assembled platforms, eventually exceeding 60% by the end of the contract. The news report states that “during the first contract for 36 Rafales, audits showed that Dassault had partially scaled back its initial promises of technology transfers and local benefits”.During the sixth India-France Annual Defence Dialogue in Bengaluru on February 17, India sought to increase indigenous content to 50% or higher, up from the 40% initially offered by Dassault. These details will be part of commercial and technical negotiations between Paris and New Delhi.The 114-fighter jet order is expected to be the most expensive arms acquisition deal in India’s history. The negotiated scheme provides for direct delivery of 18 Rafales produced in France in fly-away condition, followed by the assembly of 96 aircraft in India by a chosen partner. The first of these jets is expected to be delivered to India 42 months after the deal is inked.The French news report identifies Tata as the Indian partner, though this has not been officially confirmed by either the Indian or the French government. New Delhi is expected this time to demand quantified commitments regarding jobs, local content and engineering transfers, with stricter monitoring than during the earlier contract for 36 Rafales.In a sudden announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Paris, India had purchased 36 Rafales in 2016. The controversial deal, with allegations of corruption and overpricing, saw the aircraft delivered by late 2022. In 2025, New Delhi finalised another deal for 26 aircraft for the naval version of the French platform for its aircraft carriers. The first of those Rafale-Marines will start coming to India in 2028.The formal procurement process for 114 Rafale fighter jets was initiated by the Defence Acquisition Council on February 12 when it sanctioned the acceptance of necessity for the aircraft. The deal was also mentioned by French President Emmanuel Macron during his recent visit to India: “On Rafale, what we want to do is expand. India confirmed a few days ago its willingness to command a new bunch of Rafales … 114 … and to co-produce in India.”