The Ministry of Defence has received a proposal from the Indian Air Force (IAF) to procure 114 'Make in India' Rafale fighter jets. The jets will be manufactured by France's Dassault Aviation and Indian aerospace firms such as Tata.
According to a report by news agency ANI, the proposal is expected to be around Rs 2 lakh crore, and it would be taken for discussion by the Defence Procurement Board headed by the Defence Secretary in the upcoming weeks. It also claimed that 60 per cent of the aircraft's parts would be manufactured in India.
For this, the French side is also planning to set up a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul facility for the M-88 engines of Rafale jets in Hyderabad, Telangana, according to ANI.
"The Statement of Case (SoC) or the proposal for the 114 Rafale jets prepared by the Indian Air Force was received by the Defence Ministry a few days ago and is under consideration of the different wings under it, including Defence Finance. After deliberations, the proposal would then be moved to the DPB, followed by the Defence Acquisition Council," defence officials told ANI.
Proposal put forth following Op Sindoor
According to officials, the proposal was put forth after the Rafales performed exceptionally during Operation Sindoor against Pakistan, which India had launched after the deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam that had claimed 26 innocent lives. They said the Rafales, using its Spectra Electronic warfare suite, had successfully managed to beat Chinese PL-15 air-to-air missiles which were used by Pakistan during Operation Sindoor.
At present, the IAF has 36 Rafale jets. The Indian Navy, meanwhile, has given a separate order to procure 26 Rafales for itself. However, the new order would take the Indian defence forces' arsenal of Rafales to 176.
The IAF needs more fighter jets for its depleting fleet. At present, the IAF uses Rafales, Sukhoi Su-30 and HAL Tejas, which are 4.5-generation aircraft. It also uses Dassault Mirage 2000 and Mikoyan MiG-29, which are fourth-generation fighter aircraft.
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