India Inks Mega ₹63,000-cr Deal with France for Rafale Marine Aircraft

On April 28, India signed a major Rs 63,000-crore deal to buy 26 Rafale Marine aircraft from France for the Indian Navy. The deal was inked at the defence ministry headquarters in South Block in New Delhi in the presence of the French ambassador to India, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh and Navy Vice Chief Admiral K Swaminathan. Defence ministers of both countries joined the signing-in function remotely.

The deal comes at a time when tensions are running high between India and its neighbour Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.

India is in crying need of new fighter jets as the existing fleet of MiG-29 K fighters have reportedly underperformed due to maintenance-related issues.

The new Rafale Marine consignment will largely operate from the deck of the homegrown INS Vikrant aircraft carrier. The deal involves 22 single-seat Rafale-M jets and four twin-seat trainers. It also includes crew training, simulators and a five-year performance-based logistics support. Of course, once the aircraft arrive, they will be tailor-made for Indian requirements and there will be customised carrier integration. Down the line, there will also be indigenous components manufacturing of the aircraft.

Designed for maritime strikes, the 26 Rafale-M jets will largely be used for air defence and reconnaissance operations, and will be delivered between 37 to 65 months. India will initially be paying 15 per cent instalment of the total cost of the deal. All the 26 jets are to be delivered by 2031.

The 4.5-generation Rafales are also capable of delivering nuclear weapons. In addition to the 70km-range Exocet AM-39 anti-ship missiles, the Rafale M-jets will be decked up with long-range precision strike weapons, including the over 300km range Scalp air-to-ground cruise missiles and the state-of-the-art Meteor air-to-air missiles which have a strike range of 120-150km to take on enemy jets.

As of today, the Indian Air Force operates a fleet of 36 Rafale aircraft acquired under a deal signed in 2016. These aircraft are based in Ambala and Hasimara. With the new acquisition, the total number of Rafale jets with India will sit at 62, further boosting the country’s air power with the 4.5-generation fighter aircraft.

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