New Delhi. India is poised for a major boost to its aerial power. According to sources, the government is set to consider a massive ₹3.25 lakh crore proposal to purchase 114 Rafale fighter jets from France at a high-level meeting of the Defense Ministry this week.
Sources said that under this proposal, most of the Rafale jets will be manufactured in India, with about 30 per cent indigenous content, while 12-18 aircraft will be purchased in flyaway condition for the Indian Air Force (IAF).
The matter is expected to be discussed at a senior-level meeting of the Defense Ministry in the next two to three days. Sources said that as part of the government-to-government deal, India is also seeking French approval to integrate Indian weapons and other indigenous systems on the Rafale platform. However, the source code will remain with the French side.
If approved, the deal will become India’s largest defense deal to date, and will take the total number of Rafale jets in Indian service to 176. The IAF currently operates 36 Rafales, while the Indian Navy placed orders for 26 Rafale-M jets last year.
Sources said, “The Statement of Case (SoC), or proposal, for 114 Rafale jets prepared by the Indian Air Force was received by the Ministry of Defense a few months ago. After receiving approval from the Ministry of Defense, the proposal will have to be given final approval by the Cabinet Committee on Security.”
Notably, India is moving ahead with the Rafale deal, while both the United States and Russia have offered their fifth-generation fighter aircraft, the F-35 and Su-57, to the IAF.
However, the indigenous content in the aircraft is currently around 30 per cent, lower than the usual 50-60 per cent requirement under Make in India norms.
Sources indicated that the indigenous content of the Made-in-India Rafale fighter could eventually exceed 60 percent. The move to pursue this proposal comes in the backdrop of the Rafale’s reportedly strong performance against Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, where the aircraft is said to have successfully countered Chinese PL-15 air-to-air missiles using its Spectra electronic warfare suite.
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