NEW DELHI, July 30 (NNN-BERNAMA) — India sees its acquisition of French-made Rafale aircraft as the start of a new era for its air force.
The first batch of five Rafales arrived on Wednesday at an airbase in Ambala in Haryana state after flying 7,000 km from the Merignac airbase in the French city of Bordeaux.
They received air-to-air refueling from a French tanker at a height of 30,000 feet during the journey and made one stopover at a military base in the United Arab Emirates.
The acquisition marks “the beginning of a new era in our military history,” Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said.
“This aircraft has very good flying performance and its weapons, radar and other sensors and electronic warfare capabilities are amongst the best in the world. Its arrival in India will make the IAF (Indian Air Force) much stronger to deter any threat that may be posed on our country,” the minister said in social media posts.
India will receive 36 of these warplanes, including six twin-seat trainers, as part of the US$8.7 billion agreement it signed with France in September 2016.
It was India’s first major fighter plane deal since the Sukhoi purchase from Russia in 1997.
“I am very happy for the Indian Air Force as it (the Rafale) has given the Air Force a tremendous capability jump and technological asymmetry over our adversaries; something which was missing for such a long time,” former air force chief Birender Singh Dhanoa was quoted as saying in a media report.
— NNN-BERNAMA