France is Providing Rafales Aircraft to India

News Desk

India signed a contract for 36 Rafale aircraft from the French company – Dassault Aviation under a Rs 59,000-crore deal four years before. However, India has decided to purchase 126 Rafale fighter air- crafts from Frnce in future. According to present contract, every year 11 aircraft are to be delivered. There will be two Squadrons of Rafale Fighters. The first batch of these fighters will be commissioned into the 17 Squadron ‘Golden Arrows’ in Ambala. On 27 july, those five Rafale fighter aircraft took off from France for India.

The aircraft flew out from the Merignac airbase in French port city of Bordeaux and will cover a distance of nearly 7,000 km with air-to-air refueling and a single stop in the United Arab Emirates before arriving at Ambala .

“You can call them (Rafale) both beauty and the beast,” said Indian Ambassador to France Jawed Ashraf after interacting with the IAF pilots at the airbase before they set off for India.

“Delivery of 10 aircraft has been completed on schedule. Five will stay back in France for training mission. The delivery of all 36 aircraft will be completed on schedule by the end of 2021,” the Indian embassy in Paris said in a statement.

The IAF official said the air-to-air refueling of the aircraft will be undertaken with dedicated tanker support from the French Air Force.

The aircraft are expected to significantly boost the Indian Air Force’s combat capabilities at a time India is locked in a tense border row with China in eastern Ladakh.

The first Rafale jet was handed over to the IAF in October last year during a visit to France by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

“Our air force pilots tell us that these are extremely swift, nimble, versatile and very deadly aircraft,” said Ashraf while congratulating the IAF pilots on becoming the first ones to fly one of the world’s most advanced fighter aircraft.

The envoy thanked Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of the aircraft, for delivering the fleet on time, the French government and the French Air Force for extending all required support.

“This (the fleet) is going to add a great deal of air power to our defence preparedness. This is also a powerful symbol of the strategic partnership between India and France,” he added.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Dassault Aviation Eric Trappier said the “new milestone” illustrated once again the “exemplary” cooperation between his company and the Indian Air Force that started in 1953.

He said it testifies that the program is running smoothly and that deliveries are on time notwithstanding the COVID-19 pandemic.

India and France have a long history of cooperation in fighter aircraft, which includes India’s acquisition of French Toofanis in 1953, then Mystere, Jaguars and the Mirages. Official sources said the Rafale jets are likely to be deployed in the Ladakh sector as part of IAF’s efforts to enhance its operational capabilities along Line of Actual Control with China in view of the border row with the country.

The aircraft is capable of carrying a range of potent weapons. European missile maker MBDA’s Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile and Scalp cruise missile will be the mainstay of the weapons package of the Rafale jets.

The Dassault Rafale, literally meaning “gust of wind” and “burst of fire” is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Equipped with a wide range of weapons, the Rafale is intended to perform air supremacy, interdiction, aerial reconnaissance, ground support, in-depth strike, anti-ship strike and nuclear deterrence missions. The Rafale is referred to as an “omnirole” aircraft by Dassault.

In the late 1970s, the French Air Force and French Navy were seeking to replace and consolidate their current fleets of aircraft. In order to reduce development costs and boost prospective sales, France entered into an arrangement with UK, Germany, Italy and Spain to produce an agile multi-purpose fighter, the Eurofighter Typhoon. Subsequent disagreements over work share and differing requirements led to France’s pursuit of its own development program. Dassault built a technology demonstrator which first flew in July 1986 as part of an eight-year flight-test program, paving the way for the go-ahead of the project. The Rafale is distinct from other European fighters of its era in that it is almost entirely built by one country, involving most of France’s major defence contractors, such as Dassault, Thales and Safran.