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The Indian Air Force on Tuesday received its first Rafale fighter jet from a series of 36 aircraft purchased from France in presence of Defense Minister Rajnath Singh here. Singh attended the handover ceremony of the first Rafale fighter jet acquired by the IAF along with his French counterpart Florence Parly at aircraft maker Dassault Aviation facility in Merignac, southwestern France. "Rafale will boost India's air dominance exponentially," Singh said after receiving the aircraft. Singh, who earlier held wide-ranging talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, said his visit was aimed at "expanding the strategic partnership" between India and France. Arrangements have also been made for a traditional Indian Shastra Puja, or weapons' worship which forms part of Dussehra celebrations and this year also marks Air Force Day - IAF's 87th anniversary. Singh is scheduled to fly a sortie in the Rafale jet following the Shastra Puja, which will conclude with the traditional breaking of a coconut before the new aircraft. India had ordered 36 Rafale fighter jets from France in a deal worth Rs 59,000 crore in September 2016. The first batch of four Rafale jets will fly to their home base in India by May 2020. All 36 jets are expected to arrive in India by September 2022, for which the IAF has been reportedly undertaking preparations, including readying required infrastructure and training of pilots. The Rafale is a twin-jet fighter aircraft able to operate from both an aircraft carrier and a shore base. The manufacturers describe it as a fully versatile aircraft which can carry out all combat aviation missions to achieve air superiority and air defence, close air support, in-depth strikes, reconnaissance, anti-ship strikes and nuclear deterrence.

Rafale will boost India's air dominance exponentially: Rajnath Singh after officially receiving the fighter aircraft

<ul><li>The jets took off from the Merignac airbase in French port city of Bordeaux on Monday and will arrive here after covering a distance of 7,000 km with air-to-air refuelling and a single stop in the United Arab Emirates.</li><li>The fleet of five jets comprises three single-seater and two twin-seater aircraft. </li><li>Authorities have imposed prohibitory orders near the <keyword id="6338781" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="ambala-air-force-station">Ambala Air Force Station</keyword>, banning shooting of videos and photography. </li></ul> The first batch of five Rafale jets are scheduled to land at the Ambala air base here on Wednesday afternoon with police tightening the security around the air force station. The squadron of Rafale jets will be stationed at the Ambala air base in Haryana. The jets took off from the Merignac airbase in French port city of Bordeaux on Monday and will arrive here after covering a distance of 7,000 km with air-to-air refuelling and a single stop in the United Arab Emirates. The fleet of five jets comprises three single-seater and two twin-seater aircraft. Authorities have imposed prohibitory orders near the Ambala Air Force Station, banning shooting of videos and photography. The Ambala district administration has also prohibited people from flying private drones within the three-km radius of the air base, officials said earlier. Section 144, which prohibits assembly of four or more people, has been imposed in the villages adjoining the air base, including Dhulkot, Baldev Nagar, Garnala and Panjkhora. Ambala deputy commissioner Ashok Kumar Sharma said shooting of videos or taking photographs of the boundary wall of the air base and its adjoining areas will remain strictly prohibited during the imposition of the prohibitory orders. Meanwhile, the Haryana Police has set up several check barricades and police officers were seen patrolling residential localities near the air base, making announcements over loudspeakers warning people not to stand on the rooftop of their houses to click pictures or shoot videos. Violators would face punishment as per the law, they warned. At many places here, hoardings have been erected to welcome the arrival of the fighter jets with some of these mentioning that their induction will further boost <keyword id="6355075" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="IAF">IAF</keyword>'s capabilities. Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij on Wednesday said the people of Ambala are very enthusiastic about the arrival of the jets. "This is a very proud and a historic moment for us that the Rafale jets will be stationed in Ambala Cantonment area. Rafales are IAF's 'Sikandar', which will significantly boost our combat capabilities," he said. He said had there not been the threat of coronavirus pandemic, thousands would have gathered in the streets to welcome the jets. Nearly four years ago, India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to purchase 36 Rafale jets under a Rs 59,000-crore deal to boost the IAF's combat capabilities. The five Rafales are scheduled to be inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Wednesday, though a formal induction ceremony would be held later. The jets will be inducted into the IAF as part of its No 17 Squadron, also known as the 'Golden Arrows'. The aircraft is capable of carrying a range of potent weapons. European missile maker MBDA's Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile and Scalp cruise missile will be the mainstay of the weapons package of the Rafale jets. Of the 36 jets, 30 will be fighter jets and six will be trainers. The trainer jets will be twin-seater and they will have almost all the features of the fighter jets. The IAF has undertaken major infrastructure upgrades at the Ambala base for the deployment of the first Rafale squadron. Built in 1948, the air base is located on the east side of Ambala and is used for military and government flights. The air base has two squadrons of the Jaguar combat aircraft and one squadron of the MIG-21 'Bison'. Air Force Marshal Arjan Singh was the first commander of the base. The Mirage fighters that were used for the air strike in Balakot in Pakistan in February 2019 after the Pulwama terror attack had taken off from here. 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Five Rafale jets to land in Ambala today

Since the last decade, India has been on a spree of buying modern weapon systems through its ever increasing defence budget. In particular the <keyword id="15141" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Indian-Air-Force">Indian Air Force</keyword> is going through a total revamp. India is the only country which has categorised its fighters as heavy, medium and light combat aircrafts. It has assigned specific roles to its fighters however most are multi-role in nature. 
 
The Dassault Mirage 2000 is a French multirole, single-engine jet fighter manufactured by Dassault Aviation. India has acquired a total of 51 Mirages, which include 41 single-seater Mirage 2000Hs and 10 two-seater Mirage 2000TH trainers. 
 
The SEPECAT <keyword id="42034" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Jaguar">Jaguar</keyword> is an Anglo-French jet attack aircraft originally used by the <keyword id="2875013" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="British-Air-Force">British Air Force</keyword> and is playing the nuclear strike role with the Indian Air Force. Similarly MIG 21 and MIG 27 are the interceptors and Ground attack aircrafts. HAL Tejas is a single seater, single engine multirole fighter. Sukhoi SU-30MKI is the pride of the Indian fleet and is one of the best 4++ generation air superiority fighters in the world. 
 
The MMRCA deal, the comparison and what went wrong 
India is planning to decommission its entire fleet of MiG 21s and MiG 27s by the year 2020~2023. Now, the MiG 21 is an Interceptor while the MiG 27 is a Ground attack aircraft. 
 
The MMRCA program was initiated to replace both these specialized aircraft with a Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft. This is the reason IAF floated a global tender for a suitable aircraft. 
 Out of the 6 aircrafts which reached the last stage of negotiations, Dassault <keyword id="6381048" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Rafale">Rafale</keyword> emerged as the winner. Initially the plan was to buy 126 aircrafts, 18 in flyaway condition and the remaining 108 was to be manufactured domestically under the Transfer of Technology agreement. However after Narendra Modi's <keyword id="6354785" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="France">France</keyword> visit in April, air was made clear and India inked the deal for 36 aircrafts in flyaway condition for an undisclosed amount of money which could seriously go over US$ 6 billion. 
 
Much has been said about the escalating cost of the deal and its worthiness to acquire the Rafale jets which was out rightly rejected by many former bidders and a section of experts believe that a SU 35 would be a much better option specially for India. 
 
 Dassault Rafale vs Sukhoi SU-35 
 Overall rating table 
<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>
				CATEGORY</td>
			<td>
				DASSAULT RAFALE</td>
			<td>
				SUKHOI SU-35</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				BVR Rating</td>
			<td>
				90%</td>
			<td>
				80%</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Armament</td>
			<td>
				7.8/10</td>
			<td>
				8.1/10</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Technology</td>
			<td>
				7.7/10</td>
			<td>
				8.1/10</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Avionics</td>
			<td>
				8.0/10</td>
			<td>
				8.2/10</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Manoeuvrability</td>
			<td>
				9.5/10</td>
			<td>
				8.4/10</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Rate of Climb</td>
			<td>
				max. 300 m/s – 60k ft/min</td>
			<td>
				max. 280 m/s – 55k ft/min</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Thrust/Weight</td>
			<td>
				1.13</td>
			<td>
				1.10</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Service Ceiling</td>
			<td>
				17 km – 55k ft</td>
			<td>
				18 km – 59k ft</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Speed</td>
			<td>
				2.00 Mach</td>
			<td>
				2.25 Mach</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Fuel Economy</td>
			<td>
				0.27 km/l – 0.63 NM/gallon</td>
			<td>
				0.19 km/l – 0.44 NM/gallon</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Unit Cost</td>
			<td>
				90.000.000 USD</td>
			<td>
				65.000.000 USD</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Overall Rating</td>
			<td>
				very good</td>
			<td>
				very good</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

	 
	FACTS- Dassault Rafale vs Sukhoi SU-35
 
Sukhoi SU-35 is cheaper. 
Dassault Rafale is more economical. 
Sukhoi SU-35 is faster. 
Sukhoi SU-35 is better armed. 
Dassault Rafale is better dogfighter. 
Dassault Rafale is smaller than Sukhoi SU-35. 
 

	France is a reliable defence partner for India and it is already supplying and upgrading the Mirage 2000 fighters however its credibility in the international defence market was questioned after the Mistral row. Rafale is a good fighter in its class and a better dogfighter but the days of dog fighting are over and this is the era of Net-Centric Warfare. Rafale is smaller in size when you compare it to the SU-30MKI or the SU-35 and possess good ground attack capabilities. India is becoming a regional resource centre for the SU series fighters and should have gone for the SU-35 or the Euro fighter both of which have a lower price tag than the Rafale fighters. However buying 36 Rafale jets was vital for Indo-French geo-political relations. Now is the time to have a complete stop on this and which was also confirmed by the Indian <keyword id="6366153" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Defence-Minister">Defence Minister</keyword>. 
	 
	(Image Courtsey: gripen4canada.blogspot.com) 
	<o:p></o:p>

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Rafale will boost India's air dominance exponentially: Rajnath Singh after officially receiving the fighter aircraft

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