10 new Rafale to join Air Force fleet next month!

New Delhi, Mar 29: In a move to elevate the power of the Indian Air Force (IAF), 10 new Rafale fighter aircraft will be joining the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces leading to the formation of the second squadron of the planes in the next 30 days. The new aircraft would increase the number of these planes to 21 as already 11 of these planes are inducted into Ambala-based 17 Squadron.

 

 

"Three Rafale fighters would be arriving in India in next two to three days directly flying from France with midair refuelling support by a friendly Air Force. Following that, we would be getting around 7-8 more of these fighters and their trainer version in the second half of next month. This would greatly boost our capability to carry out our missions," senior government sources told a news agency.

 

 

Rafale joined the IAF last year in July-August and were soon operationalised. It should be noted, it also has been deployed for patrolling along the China front in eastern Ladakh and other fronts during the height of the China confrontation.

 

 

As reported earlier, the aircraft after departing from France would be stationed in Ambala and some of them would be later sent to Hashimara where the process of starting the second squadron has already started.

 

 

 

In February, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had said in Rajya Sabha that India will have 17 Rafale jets by March and the entire batch of the French-origin fighter aircraft bought by the country will reach by April 2022. The Rafale jets are India's first major acquisition of fighter planes in 23 years after the Sukhoi jets were imported from Russia.

 

Earlier, the first batch of five Rafales flew into India on July 28 and was officially inducted on September 10. With the induction of these aircraft, the IAF would have eight fighter aircraft which will be operationalised within a few days. The Rafale fighters have already been operationalised and have also been deployed in the conflict zone of Ladakh in the short duration of time they have been with the Air Force.

 

 

Besides, the second batch of Rafale fighter jets reached India in November 2020 after flying non-stop from France. The third batch of three Rafale fighter jets landed in India this year in January, after flying non-stop from France. The jets had flew over 7000 km with in-flight refuelling. With the arrival of the new batch, the number of Rafale aircraft has increased to 11.

 

In September 2016, India had signed a deal with France for the acquisition of 36 Rafale multi-role fighter jets in a fly-away condition along with 13 India Specific Enhancements (ISE) under a €7.87 billion (Rs. 60,000 crore) Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA).

 

India-specific enhancements on the Rafales include a helmet-mounted sight, radar warning receivers, flight data recorders with storage for 10 hours of data, infrared search and track systems, jammers, cold engine start capability to operate from high-altitude bases and towed decoys to ward off incoming missiles.

 

 

The twin-engine jet is capable of carrying out a variety of missions – ground and sea attack, air defence and air superiority, reconnaissance and nuclear strike deterrence. It can carry almost 10 tonnes of weapons.