India is likely to receive around six fully-loaded Rafale fighter aircraft by July-end fitted with the long-range Meteor air-to-air missiles, which is expected to boost the capabilities of the Indian Air Force.
The Rafales along with the Meteor missiles can hit targets at more than 150 km strike range.
“Depending upon the situation and the ongoing training of IAF pilots in France, we may get six Rafales by July-end. The aircraft will be arriving with their full package and will be made operational within few days itself,” government sources told news agency .
On June 2, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a telephonic conversation with his French counterpart Florence Parly during which she conveyed that the Rafale jets will be delivered to India as scheduled notwithstanding the coronavirus pandemic in France.
Military officials, on the condition of anonymity, said the arrival of the Rafale jets will significantly enhance the IAF’s overall combat capability and will send a clear message to India’s “adversaries”.
Depending upon the situation and the ongoing training of IAF pilots in France, we may get six Rafales by July-end. The aircraft will be arriving with their full package and will be made operational within few days itself,” government sources were quoted as saying.
This means that the first ‘Golden Arrows’ squadron of the Rafale jets could be combat-ready as early as August.
The IAF has not commented so far on the planned delivery of first Rafale jets by France’s Dassault Aviation next month.
The report said 10 Rafale jets are believed to have been stationed in ready to deliver condition at the Merignac facility of Dassault Aviation.
Indian pilots will be flying the Rafale jets from France to India in July-end, with a likely stopover at Al Dhafra air base near Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
Four jets will remain in France for now for the training of IAF crew. The training has been going on for quite some time now.
