The first five of the 36 Rafale fighter jets India procured from the Dassault Aviation company of France arrived in Haryana's Ambala Indian Air Force (IAF) station on Wednesday.
The aircraft landed nearly three-and-a-half hours after they took off from Al Dhafra airbase of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The fighter jets had taken off from Bordeaux-Merignac airbase in France on Monday and had a stopover at the airbase in Abu Dhabi before taking off for Ambala on Wednesday.
The new fighter aircraft are inducted to the recently resurrected 17 Golden Arrows squadron of the IAF – at a time when India is engaged in a military stand-off with China. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government highlighted it as a significant step in “strengthening air power” and “defence preparedness” of the nation.
“The Birds have landed safely in Ambala. The touch down of Rafale combat aircrafts in India marks the beginning of a new era in our Military History. These multirole aircrafts will revolutionise the capabilities of the @IAF_MCC,” tweeted Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
“I would like to add, if it is anyone who should be worried about or critical about this new capability of the Indian Air Force, it should be those who want to threaten our territorial integrity,” said Singh. “This aircraft has very good flying performance and its weapons, radar and other sensors and Electronic Warfare capabilities are amongst the best in the world. Its arrival in India will make the IAF much stronger to deter any threat that may be posed on our country.”
“Welcome home 'Golden Arrows'. Blue skies always,” the IAF posted on Twitter, after the Rafale jets entered the airspace of India. Two Su-30 MKIs of the IAF escorted the new fighter aircraft.
In view of China’s belligerence along its disputed boundary with India in eastern Ladakh, the IAF decided to immediately make the new aircraft deployable and hence opted to arm them with French HAMMER (Highly Agile and Manoeuvrable Munition Extended Range) air-to-ground precision-guided weapon systems, instead of the Israeli Spice 2000 bombs. Unlike the HAMMERs, which were already used on Rafale fighter jets in Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, the Spice 2000 would have required trials and the process of integration would have needed more time. The HAMMERs have a range of 60-70 kilometers.
The IAF’s Rafale fighter jets will also be armed with Meteor, Scalp and MICA missiles.
The first set of the five aircraft included three single-seaters and two twin-seaters. The fighter jets were flown to the airbase at Ambala in Haryana by the IAF pilots, who were trained on the aircraft and the weapon systems by the Dassault Aviation and the French Air Force.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had ceremonially taken delivery of the first Rafale aircraft from the Dassault Aviation in a ceremony in France in October 2019.
The delivery of the first 10 aircraft, including the five flying from France to India, has been completed on schedule.
Five more Rafale aircraft, which were already delivered, stayed back in France for further training of the IAF pilots and support personnel.
The delivery of all the 36 aircraft will be completed on schedule by the end of 2021, the Embassy of India in Paris stated in a statement.
New Delhi's Rs 59,000 crore government-to-government deal with Paris to procure the 36 Rafale fighter jets “off the shelf” had turned into a major political controversy in India, with the BJP-led Government being accused by the opposition Congress of nudging the Dassault Aviation to choose Reliance Defence as its offset partner, brushing aside state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. The Supreme Court, however, in December 2018 concluded that no irregularities were found in the deal. It also dismissed review petitions in November 2019.
Before their arrival, the jets were welcomed by the Indian Navy warship INS Kolkata.
Ahead of their arrival, areas around the Ambala airbase were put under tight scrutiny and Section 144 was imposed in some areas.
“The Rafale jets were purchased when they fully met the operational requirements of the IAF. The baseless allegations against this procurement have already been answered and settled,” tweeted the Defence Minister.