India Eyes 114 Rafale Jets in Rs 3.25 Lakh Crore Deal, Discussions Likely This Week - How It Will Boost Make-in-India

New Delhi: India is likely to discuss a Rs 3.25 lakh crore deal for buying 114 Rafale fighter jets from France in a high-level defence meeting, to be held this week. If sealed, the Rafale fighter jets would

be manufactured in India with almost 30 percent indigenous components.ANI quoted top Defence Ministry sources saying that India may take 12-18 Rafales in flyaway condition and is also in talks with the officials over integrating Indian weapons on the fighter jet.

What We Know on Proposed Planes for Buying 114 Rafale Jets

• India is planning to buy 114 new Rafale fighter jets from France that will be manufactured in India with some percentage of Indian components.
• As per the proposal to be taken up for discussion at a high-level Defence Ministry meeting scheduled to be held in the next two to three days, the Indian side is also asking France to enable the integration of Indian weapons and other indigenous systems into the French aircraft under the government-to-government deal, they said.
• The source codes will remain with the French side only.

US, Russia Also Offered India With Next-Generation Fighter Jets

Interestingly, India is moving ahead with the deal with France when both the United States of America and Russia have offered their fifth-generation fighters, including the F-35 and the Su-57, respectively, to the Indian Air Force. The indigenous content in the aircraft would be around 30 percent only. Generally, the indigenous content required in Make in India deals is around 50-60 percent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-EnSvBoz7M

Proposed Rafale Fighter Jet Deal Will Be India's Largest Ever If Sealed

If approved, this would be India's largest-ever defence deal and would take the number of Rafale jets in the Indian military to 176, as the Indian Air Force already has 36 of them, while the Indian Navy placed orders for 26 of them last year. "The Statement of Case (SoC) or the proposal for the 114 Rafale jets prepared by the Indian Air Force was received by the Defence Ministry a few months ago. Once approved by the Defence Ministry, the proposal will have to be given final clearance by the Cabinet Committee on Security. The move to take the proposal forward came soon after the Rafale performed very well against Pakistan in Operation Sindoor, where it managed to comprehensively beat the Chinese PL-15 air-to-air missiles using its Spectra Electronic Warfare suite.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xrz-lkdjkUg

The French side is also planning to set up a maintenance, repair, and overhaul facility for the M-88 engines, which are used by Rafale jets in Hyderabad. The French firm Dassault has already set up a firm to look after the maintenance of French-origin fighter jets. Indian aerospace firms such as Tata are also likely to be part of the manufacturing. India has an urgent need to induct fighter jets to address the growing threat perception in the region. The IAF's fighter jet force structure is expected to be primarily comprised of the Su-30 MKIs, Rafales, and indigenous fighter jet projects. India has already ordered 180 LCA Mark 1A jets and also has plans to induct the indigenous fifth-generation fighter in large numbers beyond 2035.With inputs from PTI