Jet Set Go: First batch of Rafale jets leaves France for India

The first batch of five Rafale jets flew out of France on Monday. The multi-role fighter aircraft will arrive in India on July 29, when the fighter jets will officially be inducted and join the Indian Air Force fleet in Haryana’s Ambala.

The fighter jets, built by French aviation firm Dassault, took off from the Merignac airbase in southern France’s Bordeaux.

India signed an inter-government agreement with France to procure 36 Rafale jets for the Indian Air Force under a Rs 59,000 crore deal nearly four years ago.

The fleet is expected to boost the IAF’s combat capabilities at a time when India is locked in a tense border situation in China.

The Rafale aircraft will cover a distance of nearly 7,000km from France to India with air-to-air refuelling and a single stop at French airbase in the United Arab Emirates.

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

The Indian ambassador to France, Jawed Ashraf, interacted with the Indian pilots before they took off from France.

The Rafale fighter jets are capable of carrying a range of highly effective weapons, including the Meteor air-to-air missile and Scalp cruise missile.

The Rafale jets will come with various India-specific modifications, including Israeli helmet-mounted displays, radar warning receivers, low-band jammers, 10-hour flight data recording, infra-red search and tracking systems among others.

The Air Force has readied the required infrastructure to welcome the jets in its line-up.

In November 2017, Indian National Congress alleged a ‘huge scam’ in Rafale fighter jets deal. The opposition party alleged that the contract violated the procurement procedure. The INC had said that the deal signed with France does not cater for technology transfer and has caused an insurmountable’ loss to the exchequer.

The Rafale deal has a 50 percent offset clause, a large part of which is to be executed by a joint venture company of Anil Ambani owned Reliance Defence.

The then Congress leader Rahul Gandhi demanded a probe and filed a contempt case. Following petitions to investigate the allegations, the Indian Supreme Court said in December 2018 that it found “no occasion to doubt the process” of the billion dollar deal.