The aircraft flew out from the airbase in the French port city of Bordeaux and will cover a distance of nearly 7,000 km with air-to-air refuelling and a single stop in the United Arab Emirates before arriving at Ambala airbase on Wednesday, officials said.
Vishwajit Rane purportedly can be heard saying that during a Goa cabinet meeting last week Parrikar stated he had an entire file and all documents relating to the Rafale deal lying in his bedroom, Surjewala claimed, playing the conversation for the media outside Parliament.
The French have been rewarded for their obstinacy with exactly what they wanted -- an order for fully built Rafales without technology transfer.
The defence ministry stressed that the purchase of 36 Rafales was 'strictly in accordance with the Defence Procurement Procedure in all aspects.' However, the DPP-mandated process had not been gone through when Modi announced the agreement on April 10, 2015,' observes Ajai Shukla.
The delivery of the jets -- capable of carrying a range of potent weapons and missiles -- is scheduled to begin from September next year.
While reserving the verdict, the apex court had said that the pricing details of Rafale jets could only be discussed after it decides on whether to make it public.
The charter of affiliation was signed by General Naravane and Air Commodore Tarun Chaudhry of 17 Squadron.
The 17 squadron, which operated from Bhatinda air base, was disbanded in 2016 after the IAF started gradual phasing out of Russian-origin MIG-21 jets. It was formed in 1951 and initially flew de Havilland Vampire F Mk 52 fighters.
Singh is leaving for Paris on a three-day visit, primarily to receive the first of 36 Rafale fighter jets
Here is an explainer and a timeline relating to India's purchase of 36 combat jets.
The Raksha Mantri was unable to address media queries about how much the Modi government was paying for 36 Rafales compared to what the UPA government had negotiated.
The entire base must be spic and span with flags fluttering along the roads. Everything that moves will be washed and bedecked with the best while everything that is static will be painted afresh, observes Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd).
A war of words had erupted between the Congress and the BJP over Parrikar's purported claim that he had a file on the Rafale jet deal "lying in his bedroom".
Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa said that no country in the world is facing the kind of grave threat that India is confronted with.
The Rafale will surely be flying in Indian skies next year. But the way the BJP government has botched this will cast a shadow on defence acquisitions in the years to come.
'It is hard to justify $225 million a plane for an increasingly obsolete mission.' The purchase of the 36 Rafales has changed little for the IAF.
The senior diplomat said that all 36 Rafale jets will be delivered to the Indian Air Force within the next two years. Calling it an excellent aircraft, he said it would add a lot to the capacity of the Indian Air Force.
The defence minister also called the bickering against the deal as "disservice" to the armed forces, asserting that urgent requirement of the Indian Air Force was the main reason for sealing it.
Noting the actions and capabilities of the Chinese side, the IAF chief said, "They had brought their J-20 fighter aircraft (to areas close to Eastern Ladakh) and they go off from there but that is the flexibility of airpower. The moment Indian Rafales were brought in, their J-20 was there. We know their actions and capabilities and we are taking the required steps."
Here's a chronology of events which ended with the Supreme Court on Friday giving the Narendra Modi government a clean chit in the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France and dismissed all the petitions seeking a direction to the Central Bureau of Investigation to register an FIR for alleged irregularities in the deal:
The plea also seeks details of comparative prices during UPA and NDA rule.
The Congress has been attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party government on the defence deal, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of causing loss to the state exchequer by buying the fighter jets at inflated rate.
Surjewala said shocking revelations have brought out lies of Sitharaman about the award of Rs 30,000 crore 'defence offset contract' to Reliance Defence as part of this deal.
The list of aircraft planned to be inducted by the Air Force include 36 Rafales, 114 Multirole Fighter Aircraft, 100 Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) and over 200 variants of the Light Combat Aircraft. "In the next 15 years, 83 LCAs are our primary focus, after that LCA Mark 2 will come in we are looking at close to 100 of those, that makes it near 200 of LCA class," Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria told ANI in an interview.
The Rafale fighter jet will take part in the rehearsals on Thursday for the five-day 12th edition of Asia's premier air show beginning on February 20
India-France synergy is poised to open vistas of collaboration between the two countries, notes Rup Narayan Das.
Rahul Gandhi's retort to PM Modi came after the latter attacked him at an election rally saying why he has "stopped" naming Adani and Ambani in his attacks and whether he has received money from them in return.
'Allegations of Reliance benefitting by thousands of crores is a figment of imagination, promoted by vested interests'
We are going to deliver 36 aircraft. If the government of India wants more aircraft, we will be pleased to deliver, he said.
The Congress chief took a dig, saying the documents have disappeared like two crore jobs for youths, right price for farmers' produces and the promised 15 lakh for everybody.
"These observations from three members were given to me as the INT chairman. This was not a dissent note," he said.
The two Houses would now meet on December 27 as there would be no sitting on December 24 and December 26 in view of Christmas.
One hopes the new Lok Sabha will mark a break from a dismal tradition -- lack of interest in defence and security policies, argues Colonel Anil A Athale.
In his PIL, Sharma alleged discrepancies in the fighter jet deal with France and sought stay on it.
Congress has repeatedly alleged a "scam" in the purchase of Rafale fighter jets claiming the cost per aircraft in 2012 was agreed at Rs 526.10 crore while the one signed by the Modi government costs 7.5 billion (Rs 1,670.70 crore per aircraft).
'There is no secrecy clause to the price (of the aircraft).' 'There can be secrecy on the capability of the nuclear payload of aircraft and things like that, but the price is hardly a secret.'
Gandhi's remarks came after the Supreme Court gave clean chit to the Modi government on the purchase of 36 fully-loaded Rafale fighter jets from French company Dassault Aviation.
Taking on the Congress over the Rafale deal, the defence minister asserted that 'there is something different between defence deal and deal in defence.'
There is a vital difference between Bofors and Rafale, explains Shekhar Gupta.
"It cannot be that the Supreme Court is wrong, the CAG is wrong and only the dynast is right. Satyameva Jayate -- the truth shall prevail. The CAG Report on Rafale reaffirms the dictum," Jaitley said in a series of tweet.
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