New Delhi: Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria is scheduled to leave for France on Tuesday on a three-day visit during which he will hold talks with several senior French military officials and take stock of production and delivery timelines of some of the remaining Rafale jets.
There is a possibility of Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria flagging off a batch of five-six Rafale jets from the Merignac airbase in the French port city of Bordeaux for India, people familiar with the matter said.
Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of Rafale jets, was scheduled to send six Rafale aircraft to India by the end of April.
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The arrival of the new batch of aircraft will pave the way for the IAF to raise a second squadron of the Rafale jets. The new squadron will be based in Hasimara airbase in West Bengal.
The first Rafale squadron is based in Ambala air force station. A squadron comprises around 18 aircraft.
India had signed an inter-governmental agreement with France in September 2016 for procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets at a cost of around Rs 58,000 crore.