New Delhi: The first batch of five Rafale fighter jets will be formally inducted into the Indian Air Force on Thursday in Ambala air base, at a time India is engaged in an escalating border row with China in eastern Ladakh.
Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Florence Parly, the Minister of the Armed Forces of France, will be the chief guests at the ceremony.
The Rafale jets, produced by French aerospace major Dassault Aviation, are known for air-superiority and precision strikes.
The induction programme will include the ceremonial unveiling of the Rafale aircraft, a traditional 'sarva dharma puja', air display by Rafale and Tejas aircraft as well as Sarang aerobatic team.
The first batch of five Rafale jets arrived in India on July 29, nearly four years after India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 of the aircraft at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore.
The French delegation at the ceremony will include French envoy Emmanuel Lenain, Air Gen Eric Autellet, Vice Chief of French Air Force, Chairman and Chief Executive of Dassault Aviation Eric Trappier and CEO of missile maker MBDA Eric Beranger.
After the ceremony, Parly and Singh will hold talks in Ambala on ways to further deepen bilateral defence and security cooperation after the ceremony, they said.
Ten Rafale jets have been delivered to India so far and five of them stayed back in France for imparting training to IAF pilots. The delivery of all 36 aircraft is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2021.
On December 9, 2019, defence minister Rajnath Singh formally received the first of the 36 Rafale fighter jets in France on the occasion of Dussehra. Later, Rajnath took a sortie in Rafale jet after performing 'Shastra Puja'.
The fighter jet was handed over at Merignac at a facility of Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of Rafale jets.
The minister performed the Shastra Puja on the new aircraft as he emblazoned it with an 'Om' tilak and laid flowers and coconut.
Special features of Rafale Fighter aircraft
- Twin-engine fighter aircraft: The Rafale fighter jet is powered by two M88-2 engines from SNECMA. Each engine provides a thrust of 75kN.
- Rafale fighter jets help each other out mid-air: The Rafale fighter jets are equipped with ‘buddy-buddy’ refuelling that also one aircraft to lend its fuel to another.
- Can fire METEOR missiles to take out targets that are out the visual range: METEOR — a beyond visual range air to air missile — can take out enemy aircraft at a range of over 100 kilometres.
- SCALP missiles can take out on-ground targets 300 kilometres away: Rafale can be equipped with SCALP missiles, a precision long-range ground attack missile, capable of taking out targets within a radius of 300 kilometres.
- Carry six AASM missiles at a time: Each AASM missile has GPS and imaging infrared terminal guidance. It can accurately hit a target with an accuracy of 10 meters. It has a holographic cockpit display Rafale can aim for eight targets at a time Rafale’s higher survivability. The modern fighter jet will be equipped with lethal HAMMER missile (The order for the HAMMER missiles is being processed and the French authorities have agreed to supply them to us at a short notice for our Rafale combat aircraft)
Other fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force
