Rafale DH/EH of Indian Air Force : News and Discussions

  • Like
Reactions: suryakiran, RISING SUN and Sathya

India Has Received All 36 Rafale Jets By France: French Envoy​

The 36 Rafale fighter jets have all been delivered to India, according to Emmanuel Lenain, the French ambassador to India, who was speaking on Thursday outside of ceremonies for French National Day.

Although 35 jets have arrived in India, one jet is still in France, according to official sources.

An official source stated on Friday that one Rafale fighter, which is the instrumented aircraft on which the 13 India-specific upgrades (ISE) are being evaluated, is still in France.

The Rafale with the serial number RB008 was also made for India. RB stands for former Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief Air Chief Marshal R.K.S. Bhadauria, who oversaw the Indian negotiating team and played a significant role in the contract discussions while serving as the IAF’s deputy chief at the time.

With the arrival of the final three Rafale jets in February, the Indian Air Force now has 35 Rafales in its inventory. As The Hindu has reported, work is currently being done in India to convert all of the Rafale jets currently in service to the Indian standard configuration with the 13 ISE. Every ISE has already received training and certification.

Along with the Boeing F-18 Super Hornet, the French jet’s naval derivative, Rafale-M, is competing for the Indian Navy’s tender for planes to operate from its aircraft carriers. While the F-18 conducted a demonstration in May, the Rafale-M had done so in January by flying from the Navy’s shore-based test facility in Goa.

The report on the operational demo is expected soon, after which the Navy would undertake a staff evaluation. Navy officials have said that they would recommend an inter-governmental agreement (IGA) to conclude the deal.

India and France had signed a €7.87 billion inter-governmental agreement (IGA) in September 2016 for 36 Rafale multi-role fighter jets in fly-away condition, following the surprise announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April 2015 citing “critical operational necessity” of the IAF.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sathya
Picdelamirand-oil said:

India Has Received All 36 Rafale Jets By France: French Envoy​

The 36 Rafale fighter jets have all been delivered to India, according to Emmanuel Lenain, the French ambassador to India, who was speaking on Thursday outside of ceremonies for French National Day.

Although 35 jets have arrived in India, one jet is still in France, according to official sources.

An official source stated on Friday that one Rafale fighter, which is the instrumented aircraft on which the 13 India-specific upgrades (ISE) are being evaluated, is still in France.

The Rafale with the serial number RB008 was also made for India. RB stands for former Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief Air Chief Marshal R.K.S. Bhadauria, who oversaw the Indian negotiating team and played a significant role in the contract discussions while serving as the IAF’s deputy chief at the time.

With the arrival of the final three Rafale jets in February, the Indian Air Force now has 35 Rafales in its inventory. As The Hindu has reported, work is currently being done in India to convert all of the Rafale jets currently in service to the Indian standard configuration with the 13 ISE. Every ISE has already received training and certification.

Along with the Boeing F-18 Super Hornet, the French jet’s naval derivative, Rafale-M, is competing for the Indian Navy’s tender for planes to operate from its aircraft carriers. While the F-18 conducted a demonstration in May, the Rafale-M had done so in January by flying from the Navy’s shore-based test facility in Goa.

The report on the operational demo is expected soon, after which the Navy would undertake a staff evaluation. Navy officials have said that they would recommend an inter-governmental agreement (IGA) to conclude the deal.

India and France had signed a €7.87 billion inter-governmental agreement (IGA) in September 2016 for 36 Rafale multi-role fighter jets in fly-away condition, following the surprise announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April 2015 citing “critical operational necessity” of the IAF.
Click to expand...
There were al lot of murmure in past for the follow on orders from India , Anything is going on or it died as usual ?
 
Hydra said:
There were al lot of murmure in past for the follow on orders from India , Anything is going on or it died as usual ?
Click to expand...
It takes time as usual. Because India often changes its plans. This is due to infighting with players who have opposing interests, and even when one clan has won, those who have lost accuse them of corruption, which further delays the decision.

In the situation you are in, with an air force deficit and two enemies on your borders, in a normal country there would have been a supplementary order for 36 Rafales at the time of the first delivery so that deliveries would be uninterrupted for 72 aircraft.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Hydra
Picdelamirand-oil said:
It takes time as usual. Because India often changes its plans. This is due to infighting with players who have opposing interests, and even when one clan has won, those who have lost accuse them of corruption, which further delays the decision.

In the situation you are in, with an air force deficit and two enemies on your borders, in a normal country there would have been a supplementary order for 36 Rafales at the time of the first delivery so that deliveries would be uninterrupted for 72 aircraft.
Click to expand...

IAF wants F4 version

Therefore the first order was restricted to 36 planes

Given the limited ,initial 36 plane order It looks like that IAF is confident of handling the Twin threats with the Existing inventory

And then there are Missiles of All types-- Air to Ground , SSMs , S 400
 
Picdelamirand-oil said:
It takes time as usual. Because India often changes its plans. This is due to infighting with players who have opposing interests, and even when one clan has won, those who have lost accuse them of corruption, which further delays the decision.

In the situation you are in, with an air force deficit and two enemies on your borders, in a normal country there would have been a supplementary order for 36 Rafales at the time of the first delivery so that deliveries would be uninterrupted for 72 aircraft.
Click to expand...

Even though our previous air chief talked about a potential hope for a second order, funds were diverted to the Chinese front instead. Apart from a large sum spent in further militarising the border and building new infrastructure, from half a mountain strike corps, we climbed up to 2 strike corps in a span of 2 years, this normally would have taken us a decade.

The sudden rise in the navy's budget is also of greater benefit than what the extra Rafales could provide.

We also bought a lot of precision ammo for all three services.

So all these were a better investment than buying 36 more Rafales.
 
  • Informative
  • Like
Reactions: Amarante and Valhalla
randomradio said:
Even though our previous air chief talked about a potential hope for a second order, funds were diverted to the Chinese front instead. Apart from a large sum spent in further militarising the border and building new infrastructure, from half a mountain strike corps, we climbed up to 2 strike corps in a span of 2 years, this normally would have taken us a decade.

The sudden rise in the navy's budget is also of greater benefit than what the extra Rafales could provide.

We also bought a lot of precision ammo for all three services.

So all these were a better investment than buying 36 more Rafales.
Click to expand...

If Funds are limited then
Missiles are better than aircraft

Because the Enemy is anyway going to target your airfields with their Missiles

Then you have to disperse your aircraft and keeping your airfields
Operational is a huge task

If Radars of an Airbase are hit by Missiles or drones then how will the fighter planes operate
 
STEPHEN COHEN said:
If Funds are limited then
Missiles are better than aircraft

Because the Enemy is anyway going to target your airfields with their Missiles

Then you have to disperse your aircraft and keeping your airfields
Operational is a huge task

If Radars of an Airbase are hit by Missiles or drones then how will the fighter planes operate
Click to expand...

Both are necessary. The IA needs missiles via a rocket force because they don't seem to have as much trust in the IAF to support them. The IAF needs 15 years to rebuild at our pace, whereas a rocket force needs only 5 years.

Apart from massive fires, the only area where rocket forces provide an unparalleled advantage over fighter jets is when hitting targets beyond the range of aircraft as quickly as possible. For example, China's production facilities, ports, electricity grids, transportation hubs etc. And for that, we need weapons like India's Agni Prime, China's DF-21 and America's LRHW.

But the fighter jet is definitely far more important. If we want to degrade an enemy's combat capabilities in the battlespace, only jets can do the job efficiently and affordably.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Valhalla
Optimist said:
India are bringing the SU-30 to pitch black, but not the Rafale. It would have been good to see how the Indian version went. The french are bringing the F3 Rafale. It's good to see the dummy spit is over.

aviationphotodigest.com

Back to Black! RAAF Ex Pitch Black details released.

In August the Top End skies of Australia will be filled with the roar of aircraft for the Biennial Pitch Black Exercise.
aviationphotodigest.com aviationphotodigest.com
Click to expand...
We don't have enough Rafale to spare for exercise now. Chinese are flying their aircraft along LAC on daily basis.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1551605110907625472
 
Last edited:
  • Agree
Reactions: Sathya
Buy 26 F18 fir navy & 36 Rafale for IAF and Indigenous UPG of Su30 mki.

Make up number s with Tejas mk1/2
 
randomradio said:
Not exactly. It can still serve a purpose if we get enough Rafales or Su-57s in.

The Flanker's main advantage is its vast array of weapons, that's something the others cannot easily replace.
Click to expand...
Oy vey. You really are holding on to that SU-57 hope? Only the Chicoms and Pakistanis want India to get SU-57s... and Indian Russian fanboys like yourself.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Shekhar Singh, Hydra and jk007
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom