3 Rafale fighter jets to land in India today; UAE to provide mid-air refuelling
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New Delhi, Mar 31: Indian Air Force will get three more Rafale fighter jets on Wednesday, which will join the Golden Arrows Squadron in Ambala. These fighter jets will fly directly from France and will be provided mid-air refueling by the UAE.
According to the reports, these planes are expected to land in Jamnagar base Gujarat at 7 pm. 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. The next batch of nine Rafale fighter jets will be coming in April. Out of these, five will be inducted at Hashimara airbase in West Bengal as reported earlier.
"Right now 21 Rafales delivered to India, 11 already ferried to India, three are right now being ferried and 5 extra will be ferried by end of April. Total in 2022, the 36 aircraft will have been delivered as per contract," Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India.
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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.
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).
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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.