India is buying 26 Rafale fighter jets from France

The Indian Ministry of Defense reported on its official website that an important military agreement was signed between the country's Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and his French counterpart Sébastien Lecornu.

Under this agreement, the Indian Air Force will receive 26 Dassault Rafale fighter jets. Their total cost is approximately 640 billion rupees (6.58 billion euros).

Under the agreement, India will receive 22 Rafale-M combat aircraft intended for naval aviation, as well as 4 Rafale-D training aircraft. The aircraft are scheduled to be delivered by 2030.

In addition, under the terms of the agreement, special facilities will be established in India for the production of Rafale aircraft fuselages, as well as for the maintenance, repair and overhaul of engines, sensors and weapons.

For information, the Rafale-M fighter jets are carrier-based and are expected to be deployed on India's new aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. It is said that the adoption of the naval version of these aircraft will further enhance the capabilities of the Indian air and naval aviation, as well as the logistics of the military forces.

Currently, the Indian military has 28 Rafale EH and 8 Rafale DH aircraft. It is noted that this new agreement will serve to further strengthen the country's defense capabilities.

At the same time, India has also been using Russian MiG-29K/KUB fighter jets since 2009. The country currently has 42 of these aircraft, but it was reported that about half of them are in reserve. Read 'Zamin' on Telegram!