Defence
France Dassault Aviation Says It Has Won Contract For 26 Rafale-Ms Beating American F-18 Super Hornets
Three Rafale-Ms on the deck of an aircraft carrier (image via @E_Lenain)
Dassault Aviation — the manufacturer of Rafale fighter jet has announced that government of India (GoI) has selected Rafale-M for Indian Navy's carrier aviation fighter jet beating the American F-18 Super Hornets.
It was widely expected that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will announce the deal for 26 Rafale-Ms after meeting with French President Macron.
However, in the joint statement, there was no mention of Rafale fighters. Although the Prime Minister mentioned naval fighters once, it was not mentioned in the joint communique.
Later, the French Embassy and Dassault Aviation announced that the Indian government has selected Rafale-M fighters for the Indian Navy.
"The Indian Government has announced the selection of the Rafale Marine to equip the Indian Navy with a latest generation fighter," Dassault said in a press statement.
The statement added that, "after the test campaign held in India, the Rafale Marine demonstrated that it fully met the operational needs of the Indian Navy and was perfectly adapted to the specificities of its aircraft carrier".
It is worth noting that the Indian Air Force already operates 36 Rafale jets, which were bought from France in 2016.
"The 26 Rafale Marine of the Indian Navy will eventually join the 36 Rafale already in service, which give full satisfaction to the Indian Air Force," the statement further said.
Just two days earlier (on 13 July), the Indian Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for acquiring 26 Rafale Marine jets.
According to reports, 22 single-seater Rafale-Ms and four double-seater Rafale-Bs will be acquired, which are estimated to cost €5.5 billion.
These 26 Rafales will act as stop-gap measures until the new in-development Twin-engine deck-based fighter (TEDBF) is inducted into the Navy, replacing the Russian Mig-29K fighters. The new Rafales will primarily be flown from the INS Vikrant aircraft carrier.
Early last year, various carrier suitability trials of the United States Boeing F-18 Super Hornet Block-III and Rafale-M were conducted from the shore-based test facility (SBTF) at INS Hansa, Goa.
These trials were conducted to determine which fighter suits best the needs of the Indian Navy, and according to reports, the Indian Navy leaned towards the Rafale-Ms.
As the Indian Air Force also uses Rafales, gave it the edge since, as it will help save on training, logistics and weapons package costs.
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