According to reports, India ramps up finalisation of Dassault Rafale aircraft amid a shortage of fighter aircraft in the Indian Air Force.
As per a report by India Today, India and France have intensified talks on the massive Rafale deal for 114 and 26 Rafale-M for the Navy, ‘Make in India’ jets, as the IAF squadron faces a shortage amid delayed Tejas Mk1A deliveries.
The talks are expected to be finalised in the next month during French President Emmanuel Macron’s scheduled visit to India.
India pushes for a government-to-government arrangement to procure 114 Rafale jets as an interim measure under the Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) programme.
The expected deal comes amid the ongoing fighter jet shortage. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has a current squadron strength of 29, well below the authorised 42-42.5 needed for two-front threats from China and Pakistan.
Last year, in February, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh voiced his concern over the ongoing shortage of aircraft. He said, The Indian Air Force needs to add 35 to 40 fighter jets every year to fill the shortage in numbers, according to a report by The Hindu.
The situation worsened last year with the retirement of soviet era MIG 21 aircrafts and the palns to phase out Jaguars and Mirage fleets.
The MRFA was initiated around 2018 as a revival of the earlier Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition. The MRFA targets modern 4.5 generation aircraft with ‘Make in India’ manufacturing, over 60% indigenous content via foreign collaboration, estimated at Rs 1.2-2 lakh crore.
It emphasises technology transfer, local production with potential partners like Dassault and integration with IAF systems like Rafale infrastructure.
As the MRFA program remains stalled by procedural delays and tender complexities, prompting the Indian Air Force (IAF) to push Rafale via the G2G route as an interim fix.
IAF squadron shortage intensifies due to the prolonged delays in inducting the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk1A, which was set to replace the Mig 21 fleet, originally slated to bolster frontline fighter numbers.
The Air Force contracted 83 Mk1A jets, with Cabinet Committee on Security approval for 97 more, but deliveries lag due to supply chain bottlenecks, GE F404 engine shortage.
The shortage has compelled the Indian Air Force to turn towards interim solutions like the additional rafale prcurement.
The reports come amid the US push for Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet and Lockheed Martin’s F-21, F-16 variant for India’s MRFA program.
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