- By Aalok Sensharma
- Thu, 05 Dec 2019 02:05 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: Indian government has asked its French counterpart to arm the first four rafale fighters with the Meteor air-to-air missiles, which has a strike range of 120 to 150 kms, reported Times of India.
According to the report, the request for at least 8-10 Meteor Beyond Visual Range (BVR) to be delievered with the four Rafale jets was made during Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to France earlier this year.
The Meteor, which has a range of 120 to 150 kms, can easily outgun any missile unleashed by Pakistani or Chinese fighter jets.
“Earlier, as per the Rs 59,000 crore deal inked for 36 Rafale jets and their weapon packages in September 2016, the progressive deliveries of the Meteor and the over 300-km range Scalp air-to-gound cruise missiles were to begin several months later,” a source -- quoted by Times of India -- said.
“But given the current operational situation with Pakistan, India has asked for faster delivery of at least 8-10 Metor missiles. France is examining the request,” the source added.
The request from India comes in backdrop of the aerial skrimish between Indian and Pakistani fighter jets on February 27, a day after the IAF bombed the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror facility in Balakot. On February 27, several Pakistani jets entered the Indian side of the LoC. However, the IAF soon scrambled its jets downed an F-16 of the PAF while its own MiG-21 was shot down.
The IAF believes that the Rafale jets will give India an edge over the neighbouring nations in aerial defence as the fighter jets are capable of carrying a range of highly potent weapons and missiles.
The Rafale fighter jets will be seen in India by May 2020, this was confirmed by Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhaduria. “By May 2020, we will be recieving four Rafale fighter jets. It will be only then that we will see the aircraft in the Indian skies. The advantage of getting the Rafale in May next year will be that out pilots will be substantially trained by then,” he had said.
The Rafale Fighter jets deal was signed by India in September 2016 with France. The deal was done for the procurement of 36 fighter jets.