Indian Navy signs for 26 Dassault Rafales
India and France signed a key Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) for 26 Rafale fighters jets in New Delhi on Monday 28 March. The agreement was signed virtually after French defence minister Sebastien Lecornu’s planned visit to India was deferred to a later date. The virtual signing was undertaken by Lecornu and Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, with officials later exchanging signed copies of the documents in Delhi in the presence of Defence Secretary Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh and French Ambassador Thierry Mathou.
The IGA included performance-based logistics, a Transfer of Technology agreement, allowing the integration of indigenous weapons in India (specifically including the ASTRA Mk1 air-to-air Beyond Visual Range Missile), as well as an agreement to set up a production facility for Rafale fuselages, with MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) facilities for aircraft engines, sensors and weapons. The procurement also included air and groundcrew training in France and India, a simulator, and associated equipment and weapons. The deal includes maintenance and additional equipment for the existing fleet of the Indian Air Force Rafales, and covers the retrofit of ten of the IAF’s 36 Rafales to allow them to carry buddy refuelling stores.
The Rafale was selected after a competitive evaluation of the Rafale M and the Boeing F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet, reflecting the ongoing shift by India towards the procurement of Western aircraft types. Both types reportedly met Indian Navy requirements, but the commonality between the Rafale M and the Rafale EH and Rafale DH aircraft operated by the Indian Air Force tipped the balance since it promises to reduce life cycle costs and simplify logistics, while streamlining supply chains.
The Rafale M deal formed a key part of bilateral talks that began during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to France in 2023. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) finally approved proposals to purchase 26 Rafale aircraft in July 2024.
The Rafales, which include 22 single-seat, carrier-capable Rafale Ms, and four non-navalised Rafale B two-seat training aircraft. They will be delivered by 2030 and will be deployed on the locally-built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.
There have been reports that the aircraft have received an Indian-specific enhancement enabling them to take off from a ski jump and land on a short deck – both features of India’s carriers. It is not known whether this is simply a clearance, or a software modification or some kind of hardware upgrade.
The Indian Navy currently operates a fleet of Russian-made MiG-29K fighters, which deploy aboard the INS Vikramaditya, the former Russian Admiral Gorshkov, refurbished, modernised and  delivered to the Indian Navy in 2013.
The Rafale M will boost Indian Navy operational capabilities, but represents an interim solution, pending the fielding of the developmental indigenous HAL Twin Engine Deck-Based Fighter (TEDBF). The priority will be to replace the MiG-29K, but the Rafales may not last much longer!
The fielding of the Rafale M will strengthen India’s carrier capabilities in the Indian Ocean, and will provide a useful counterbalance to China in the Indian Ocean region, helping to safeguard vital global trade routes.