All you need to know about Rafale fighter jets

Five Rafale jets from the highly-controversial Rafale deal are on their way to India from France. The jets will arrive in India on Wednesday, marking the deepening of the Indian-French defence ties.

The five jets are part of the 36 twin-engine aircraft purchased from Dassault Rafale at approximately Rs 59,000 crore in 2016.

With the new fighter aircraft being inducted to the IAF at a time when India is engaged in a military stand-off with China, New Delhi underlined that it was a significant step in “strengthening air power” and “defence preparedness” of the nation.

Also read — Five Rafale jets flying in from France, to boost India’s defence preparedness amid military stand-off with China

Here's all you need to know about Rafale jets:

What is the Rafale Jet?

It is a twin-engine fighter jet that can perform a number of actions at the same time. Fitted with Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles, Mica multi-mission air-to-air missiles and Scalp deep-strike cruise missiles, it has the capability to attack air and ground targets from a distance. The Meteor’s no-escape zone is said to be three times bigger than those of the current air-to-air missiles in the same range, according to a report by Hindustan Times.

Where are the jets coming from?

A mixture of single and two-seater, the five jets took off from Merignac airbase near Bordeaux in France on Monday and will reach Ambala Air Base on Wednesday morning with a pit stop at the Al Dhafra, the French airbase in the United Arab Emirates. The total distance covered by these jets will be 7,000 km.

According to a statement by the Indian Embassy in France, 10 of the 36 jets have been delivered on schedule. Five of those are on the way while the rest will remain in France for more training, according to a report by The Indian Express.

When will the rest of the Rafale jets be delivered?

The remaining five will be delivered after the pilots go through a nine-month training by Dassault on the aircraft and weapon system. The other 26 jets will be delivered by the end of 2021.

Jawed Ashraf, the Indian Ambassador in France was present when the five jets left for India. He said that the two squadrons of Rafale will add great strength to the IAF.

“Our pilots tell us that they are extremely swift, nimble, versatile and very deadly aircraft. You might call them that they are both beauty and the beast,” Ashraf said.

Where will they be stationed?

The Rafale jets, which have been tailor-made for the IAF, will join the resurrected ‘Golden Arrow’ squadron of the Air Force and will be stationed in Ambala. The No. 17 ‘Golden Arrow’ squadron was disbanded in 2016 after Mig-21 fighter jets were phased out from the IAF. The squadron was part of a number of operations including the Kargil War.

What was the Rafale deal scam?

In 2011, IAF declared that Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon were the two models of aircraft that met their specifications of upgrading to Multi-Role Combat Aircrafts. Next year, Rafale was chosen as the bidder that offered the lowest amount and negotiations with Dassault Aviation began.

Initially, IAF placed an order of 108 aircraft but due to disagreements, the UPA Government could not place the deal at the time.

When the NDA government came to power, it said that it got significantly better terms than those quoted originally and reduced the number of orders to 36 aircraft at an estimated price of Rs 59,000 crore.

The Congress Party alleged that the deal is a ‘huge scam’ as it violates the procurement procedure. It also blamed the government for by-passing interests of public sector undertaking Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and propagating the culture of ‘crony capitalism’ by favour Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Defence.