The Indian Air Force gets 3 Rafale fighter jets

The Indian Air Force (IAF) received three of the remaining four Rafale fighter jets on Tuesday. The fighter planes were delivered by France to the Rafale manufacturer Dassault Aviation’s Istres-Le Tube air station, which is located north-west of Marseille.

After which, between February 15 and 20, the IAF will wait for the ideal chance to bring the fighter jets to India. According to sources familiar with the situation, the planes that have been handed over will now be thoroughly inspected. The fighter jets are likely to arrive in India between February 15 and 16.

These fighter jets will be refueled in mid-flight by the air force of India’s close ally, the United Arab Emirates, using Airbus multi-role transport tankers once they leave France. Rafale fighter jets are fully equipped with India-specific enhancements, giving them the ability to take on any regional rival.

The final fighter plane is nearly complete, with new paint and upgrades, but will not be delivered until April for reasons best known to the IAF.

After the deliveries from France started, the last of the 36 contractual fighters was actually the first fighter utilized for training IAF personnel. During Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar’s visit to France in December 2021 for a high-level defence dialogue, he examined this fighter at the Istres air base.

The IAF has remained tight-lipped about what Rafale enhancements are specific to India, but it has been learned that they include the long-range Meteor air-to-air missile, low-band frequency jammers, advanced communication systems, a more capable radio altimeter, radar warning receiver, high-altitude engine start-up, synthetic aperture radar, ground moving target indicator and tracking, missile approach warning systems, and very high frequency range decoys.

The IAF will test the specific enhancements to their satisfaction under Indian conditions once the fighter jets arrive, in addition to verifying the claims of the original equipment manufacturers as per the agreement. Following that, work on retrofitting the other 32 aircraft at Ambala in the western sector and Hashimara in the eastern sector with India-specific upgrades and all related equipment already on hand with the IAF will begin. The upgrade will take place at Ambala Air Base in India, which is home to India’s Rafale fighter maintenance and repair facility. 

India’s first female pilot to fly a Rafale fighter jet:

https://arthparkash.com/english/republic-day-2022-first-indian-woman-pilot-of-rafale-jet/