India has signed the deal of acquisition of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France on Friday. The long-awaited negotiations to buy Rafale fighter came through on Wednesday. The Rafale deal was signed by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and French Defence Minister Yves Le Drian on Friday, which will cost (€7.8 billion) Rs 59,000 crore.
The deal was especially ink that eventually increases the Indian Air Force inventory. The Rafale fighter jets deal includes state-of-art Meteor Missile, which is an advanced one, the air-to-air missile, beyond the visual range of 150KM, SCALP missiles which are air-launched cruise missiles with a range of over 300KM and MICA air-to-air missiles.
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As per the reports, the Rafale fighter will have at least 12 India-specific enhancements. The deliveries of jets are to begin within 36 months and will be completed by 66 months from the day of the contract.
The Rafale combat is a 4.5 Generation aircraft with twin-engine, canard-delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft that has a 3,600km range and it also features an aerial refuelling probe, 14 hardpoints for IAF (Indian Air Force) version. It will allow the aircraft to strike the target on the Pakistani soil even it is flying in the Indian airspace.
The Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by Prime Minister Modi cleared the deal on Wednesday among the rising tensions over Pakistan’s support to the terrorism and unrest. Narendra Modi has announced the deal to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets directly from France in the month of April 2016, but it took 17 months to sign the deal.
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The Indian Air Force has 33 fighter squadrons with each consisting of 18 fighter planes. It requires 45 combat units to encounter the combined threat from Pakistan and China.
As per the reports, India has to pay Rs. 9000 crores as a first installment. Indian becomes the third country after Egypt and Qatar to order Rafale aircraft from France.Tweet by Defence Minister parrikar
India & France signed the deal for 36 Rafale jets. Rafale will significantly improve India's strike & defence capabilities. pic.twitter.com/L6pjQT1zpX
— Manohar Parrikar (@manoharparrikar) September 23, 2023