By Admin 
French President Emmanuel Macron will come to India for the AI Summit to be held from 18 to 20 February. Before this, a meeting of the Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) is going to be held under the chairmanship of Defense Minister Rajnath Singh in the second week of February. Big proposals related to defense procurement will be considered in this meeting.
‘Times of India’ quoted defense sources as saying that the most important proposal among these is to give approval to buy 114 Rafale fighter aircraft from France at a cost of Rs 32 lakh crore next week. The proposed project will involve the purchase of 18 aircraft that will be in ready-to-fly condition, while some aircraft will be manufactured in India. In which 60 percent indigenous technology will be used.
Deal will be made with France for 114 Rafale aircraft
Of the 114 Rafale aircraft to be purchased under this agreement, about 80 percent will be manufactured in India. According to sources, under this project the Indian Air Force will get 88 single-seater and 26 two-seater aircraft, most of which will be manufactured in India in collaboration with Dassault and Indian private sector companies.
Approval has been given by the Defense Procurement Board last month. After getting another approval at the high level, the formal process of technical and commercial negotiations will start. This deal can be finalized during Emmanuel Macron’s visit to India. The Indian Air Force currently operates about 30 fighter squadrons, far short of its sanctioned strength of 42 squadrons, at a time when threats from Pakistan and China are rising.
Pakistan-China alliance increases concern
Defense analysts believe that the growing strategic alliance between Pakistan and Bangladesh, as well as between Pakistan and China, has further increased regional security concerns. After completion of the deal, the Indian Air Force will have a fleet of 150 Rafale aircraft, while the Indian Navy will have 26 aircraft, which will include the aircraft carrier version of the French aircraft.
Rafale shines in Operation Sindoor
Operation Sindoor has shown the importance of this 4.5 generation Badshah Rafale, as it is equipped with deadly missiles like Meteor, Scalp and laser-guided bombs. This deal is also very important because India is unlikely to get a new fifth generation fighter aircraft Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) in the near future, because the process of shortlisting companies to manufacture such high-tech stealth fighter is still going on. HAL’s Tejas MKIA program is running very slowly due to the dependence of Tejas engines on American company GE.
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