Rafale M for Indian Navy
On 13 and 14 July 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in France. It is expected that India and France will sign a defence-industrial road map to push India to scale up its manufacturing of hardware platforms.
In addition to this roadmap agreement, the Prime Minister is reported to be signing a deal for the purchase of 26 Dassault Rafale M naval fighter aircraft for the Bharatiya Nau Sena (IN, Indian Naval Air Arm). The Defense Acquistion Council (DAC) will approve a so-called Acceptance of Necessity (AON) from the Minister of Defence, Rajnath Singh, to acquire the French-built Rafales.
In December 2022, Scramble Magazine first wrote on the Rafale M emerging as the frontrunner for the Multi-Role Carrier-Borne Fighter (MRCBF) programme to supply 26 fighter aircraft for the Indian Navy aircraft carriers.
All the 26 Rafale M fighters will be single-seater versions. Indian Navy pilots will be trained in France as well as on advanced simulators at INS Hansa (Goa). It is understood that one squadron of eighteen aircraft will be onboard INS Vikrant (R11) and the remaining eight will be based at INS Hansa as reserves for rotation.
Photo (just illustrative) by Richard Baas (Scramble Archive)