The Rafale are India’s first major acquisition of fighter planes in 23 years after the Sukhoi jets were imported from Russia. Introduced in 2001, the Rafale is a French twin-engine and multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation being produced for both the French Air Force and for carrier-based operations in the French Navy.
- India has inked a Rs 59,000-crore deal in 2016 to procure 36 Rafale jets from French aerospace major Dassault Aviation after a nearly seven-year exercise to procure 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) for the Indian Air Force did not fructify.
- All the 36 jets will be delivered to India by the end of 2021.
- The Rafale jets has SCALP, the air-to-ground cruise missile with a range of over 300 km. It is a long-range deep strike missile.
