'India will have 17 Rafale jets by March, entire fleet expected by April 2022'
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New Delhi, Feb 9: "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", Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in Rajya Sabha.
"I want to inform that till now, 11 Rafale have arrived and by this March, 17 Rafale will be on our land. I also inform that all Rafale will be reach India by April, 2022," Rajnath Singh said while responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha.He said all new aircraft types in IAF are traditionally inducted through a befitting ceremony.
The minister also responded to a question raised by All India Trinamool Congress MP Dr Santanu Sen on "any probability of privatisation of few aspects of the Defence in coming days?"
Responding to his query, Singh said, "We are emphasising on indigenisation and have chosen 101 items that won't be imported from other nations but will be manufactured in India by Indians."
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.
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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.