India clears proposal to buy 114 Rafale fighter jets from Dassault, reports say

NEW DELHI: India’s Defence Acquisition Council on Thursday cleared an initial proposal to buy 114 Rafale fighter jets from France’s Dassault Aviation for 3.25 trillion Indian rupees ($280.4 billion), local media reported.

The air force’s fighter squadron strength has shrunk to 29 in recent months, well below the approved number of 42. Its workhorse MiG-21 was retired in September and other early variants of the MiG-29, the Anglo-French Jaguar and the French Mirage 2000, are also set to fly off into the sunset in the coming years.

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New Delhi has long relied on importing machinery and weapons for its armed forces, but a recent push by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has helped boost indigenous manufacturing.

For the Indian Air Force, the era of domestic manufacturing began in the 1980s but was fruitful only in the last decade when the Tejas fighter jet was introduced to replace Soviet-era MiG-21s.

Hindustan Aeronautics has nearly 180 of the advanced Mk-1A variants on order domestically, but has yet to begin deliveries due to engine supply chain issues at GE Aerospace.

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Heightened tensions with its neighbours have required India’s military to modernise.

The proposal paves the way for commercial and technical details of the deal to be discussed between the two countries, after a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to India.