At a time when India is facing tensions on borders with both China and Pakistan, India will receive a big boost as the Rafale fighter aircraft would start getting inducted into the Indian Air Force at Ambala.
“Due to coronavirus, there has been a delay a few weeks but now the aircraft will start arriving in July and will help us in boosting the country’s firepower in the aerial combat capabilities,” top government sources told India Today.
The aircrafts are equipped with the Meteor air to air missiles which can strike down enemy aircraft at 150 kilometres plus distances. Both China and Pakistan cannot launch missiles at these distances and the Rafale with its multirole capabilities can easily strike any of their planes in the air.
Former Air Force Chief BS Dhanoa had stated that once the Rafale joins Indian inventory, the Pakistanis “would not even dare” to come close to Indian territory in “aggressive manner”.
The first batch of planes to arrive in India would include three trainers and one fighter aircraft even as the production of more planes would continue in the Dassault Aviation facility in Bordeaux, France.
The first four planes would arrive at the Ambala Air Force base with the Commanding Officer of the Rafale squadron flying the plane.
India signed the deal for the 36 Rafale aircraft at the initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016 who wanted to retain the edge of the Indian Air Force over the skies in South Asia. At the moment, both Pakistan and China are creating hurdles in peace and security of the country as tensions are there on both fronts.
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