India News | India Has Received 26 Rafale Aircraft Till Date: Govt
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. India has so far received 26 Rafale aircraft out of the 36 it has ordered from Dassault Aviation, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said Wednesday.
New Delhi, Jul 28 (PTI) India has so far received 26 Rafale aircraft out of the 36 it has ordered from Dassault Aviation, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said Wednesday.
"The delivery of 36 Rafale aircraft is proceeding as per schedule. As on date, a total of 26 aircraft have been accepted and ferried to India," Bhatt said in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.
The multi-role Rafale jets, built by French aerospace major Dassault Aviation, are known for air superiority and precision strikes.
The first batch of five Rafale jets arrived in India on July 29, 2020, nearly four years after India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 aircraft at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore.
The Rafale jets are India's first major acquisition of fighter planes in 23 years after the Sukhoi jets were imported from Russia.
The Rafale jet is capable of carrying a range of potent weapons. European missile maker MBDA's Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile and Scalp cruise missile will be the mainstay of the weapons package of the Rafale jets.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)