Armed Raphael to join Air Force tomorrow, Indian and French defense ministers to attend

- This will be the third visit of the French Defense Minister to India

New Delhi, 9 September 2020, Wednesday

It was officially announced that the fully equipped Raphael aircraft, which would prove to be a game changer for the Indian Air Force, would join the Indian Air Force on September 10.

Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and French Defense Minister Perry will be present on the occasion. This will be the third visit of the French Defense Minister to India. However, this will be his first visit to India after the outbreak of Corona virus.

A spokesman for the Indian Air Force said the new aircraft would join the Indian Air Force for the first time in 23 years. The Sukhoi Jets first joined the Air Force in 1997. Five Rafale jets arrived in India on July 29 this year.

As per the agreement reached between India and France in 2016, India was buying 36 Rafale aircraft for Rs 59,000 crore. The first batch of the aircraft arrived in India in July this year, four years later. In the first batch, ten aircraft were provided by Assault Aviation, the maker of the aircraft, five of which were kept in France so that Indian Air Force pilots could use the aircraft when they went for training.

The first squadron of Raphael aircraft will be stationed at the Indian Air Force's Ambala base and the second squadron at Hasimara airbase in West Bengal.