• Source:JND
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The Indian Air Force has forwarded a proposal to the Defence Ministry for acquiring 114 'Made in India' Rafale jets, which would be built by France's Dassault Aviation and Indian aerospace firms.

The project is expected to be worth over Rs 2 lakh crore. The jets will have indigenous content of more than 60 per cent. The proposal is likely to be taken up for consideration by the Defence Procurement Board headed by the Defence Secretary in the next few weeks.

If conceived, the project will be the biggest ever defence deal to be signed by India. News agency ANI quoted a defence official saying, "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".

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If completed, the deal will expand the Rafale fleet in the Indian Air Force to 150, as the force has already inducted 36 of them. On the other hand, the Indian Navy has ordered 36 marine versions of the jet, Rafale-M, under government-to-government deals.

The move to take the proposal forward has come soon after the fighter jet performed very well against Pakistan in Operation Sindoor, where it managed to comprehensively beat the Chinese PL-15 air-to-air missiles using its Spectra Electronic warfare suite.

The indigenous variant is likely to have longer-range air-to-ground missiles than the existing Scalp, which was used extensively to hit both military and terrorist targets inside Pakistan.

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The French side is also planning to set up a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul facility for the M-88 engines, which are used by Rafale jets in Hyderabad.

India is eyeing to expand the number of jets in the air force by adding Rafale and other indigenous jets. India has already ordered 180 LCA Mark1A jets and also is planning to induct the indigenous fifth-generation fighter in large numbers beyond 2035.

(With ANI Inputs)