India would receive its first six French origin Rafale fighter aircraft by July end, boosting the Indian Air Force’s ability to strike at the enemy while defending the skies.
Armed with Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile and several other lethal weapons, the fourth generation multi-role combat jets will arrive by July 27, sources said.
On June 2, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a telephonic conversation with his French counterpart Florence Parly in which she conveyed that the Rafale jets would be delivered to India as scheduled notwithstanding the novel coronavirus-2019 pandemic in France.
The first half a dozen jets would be housed in Ambala airbase, which will be the home base of the 17 Squadron that would fly these birds. The second base to house the IAF’s latest weapons is Hashimara in West Bengal which would be populated later.
The first aircraft to be flown-in would be piloted by the Commanding Officer of the 17 Squadron (Golden Arrows) along with a French pilot. Besides fueling once in mid-air, the IAF Rafale would also make a stop somewhere in the Middle East.
Chief of Air Staff R K S Bhadauria'a initials (RB) will feature in the tail of the first aircraft that was handed over to the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in France on the Air Force Day last year. This is to recognise his contribution to the protracted negotiations as the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff.
Compared to the existing IAF combat platforms, the Rafale not only has a far superior weapon package but it has the ability to see the enemy way ahead and engage with multiple targets at the same time. As a result, the enemy needs to deploy multiple fighters to take on a single Rafale jet, effectively lowering its strength in a war-like scenario.
In September 2016, India had signed an inter-governmental agreement with France for the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets (two squadrons) at a cost of nearly Rs 59,000 crore.