Pakistan has acquired a full squadron of 25 multirole J-10C fighter jets from its all weather ally China in response to India's purchase of Rafale aircraft, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has said.
The planes would now officially be inducted on October 8 into the IAF when Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visits France but the planes would start arriving in India only in May 2020 after validation of the India Specific Enhancements and training of pilots and personnel.
With the arrival of the new batch, the number of Rafale aircraft has increased to eight. The first batch of five Rafale jets arrived in India on July 29, nearly four years after India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 aircraft at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore.
'India enjoys conventional superiority, but nuclear deterrence imposes clear boundaries.'
The missile will allow combat pilots to engage ground targets from a standoff range of up to 60 km.
The defence minister sat in the rear cockpit of the customised Rafale fighter jet with tail number RB-001 and was flown by Philippe Duchateau, head test pilot of Dassault Aviation.
The IAF has been maintaining that the Rafale jets would significantly enhance its combat capability.
Air Force Day is celebrated to mark the day the IAF was established in 1932.
The Rafales could begin combat operations by September-October, reports Ajai Shukla.
The apex court said there was no occasion to doubt the decision-making process in the multi-billion dollar Rafale deal.
India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar countered a US senator's claim that democracy does not put food on the table, citing India's PMGKAY program which provides food to 800 million people. Jaishankar argued that different parts of the world have different experiences with democracy and that the model of globalization has contributed to issues with democracy in some regions. He emphasized that India's democratic system effectively delivers food security, highlighting the PMGKAY program as an example.
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on the Rafales's arrival at a time when India's coronavirus crisis is getting worse.
The attacks against the Pakistani air force have taken them at least five years back and caused great damage to them and their Chinese and Turkish inventory of weapons.
The minister also said that four cases of corruption in defence deals have been registered by the CBI since 2015.
Military officials, on the condition of anonymity, said the arrival of the Rafale jets will significantly enhance the IAF's overall combat capability and will send a clear message to India's 'adversaries'.
The Ambala district administration also prohibited people from flying private drones within the three-km radius of the air base.
The Congress on Monday sought a thorough probe in the Rafale defence deal and demanded answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after a French media report claimed that 1.1 million (Rs 9.5 crore) was paid to a "middleman" by the aircraft manufacturer.
The fleet landed at Al Dhafra airbase on Monday in the United Arab Emirates after flying for over seven hours from the Merignac airbase. It was the only stopover by the jets while flying from France to India.
Gandhi said he had made the statements in the heat of political campaigning which have been misused by his opponents.
'Anyone who should be worried about or critical about this new capability of the Indian Air Force, it should be those who want to threaten our territorial integrity'
Is the price of one fighter Rs 681 crore? Rs 686 crore? Rs 703 crore? Rs 1,063 crore? Rs 1,225 crore?
The IAF chief thanked the Indian government for negotiating the deal, bringing it to a fruitful conclusion and the French government, air force, and industry for ensuring delivery of the jets and training of the pilots.
Six Rafale trainer aircraft will carry RB series tail numbers which stand for Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria, the current Chief of Air Staff who played a key role as lead negotiator for the mega deal.
French investigative journal Mediapart has made fresh claims that alleged bogus invoices were used that enabled French aircraft maker Dassault Aviation to pay at least 7.5 million euros in secret commissions to a middleman to help it secure the Rafale deal with India.
Singh received the aircraft at the Rafale fighter jet handing-over ceremony at Merignac in the presence of French Minister of Armed Forces Florence Parly. Members of the top military brass of France as well as senior officials of Dassault Aviation, the makers of Rafale, were also present at the ceremony.
The sources said the IAF has briefed the defence ministry about the incident and that the Indian mission in Paris has been in touch with French authorities.
The first batch of four Rafale aircraft will arrive in India by May 2020.
It involves India spending an estimated Rs 40,000 crores to Rs 50,000 crores and will take 10 to 15 years to develop.
The squadron, which operated from Bhatinda air base, was disbanded in 2016 after the IAF started gradual phasing out of Russian-origin Mig 21 jets.
Dhanoa also hoped that the matter will be laid to rest saying that raking up such issues to get political gains, putting the interest of armed forces behind is not right.
Delivery of a great operational machine must not get affected to settle political scores, says Air Marshal Anil Chopra (retd).
Celebrating its 89th anniversary, the Indian Air Force on Friday put up a dazzling show with 75 aircraft, drawn from its vintage and modern fleet, performing skilful manoeuvres also marking the platinum jubilee year of India's Independence.
Out of 36 Rafale jets, 30 will be fighter jets and six will be trainers.
The BJP alleged that former French president Francois Hollande is part of the "nexus" to sabotage the procurement.
'When one air force (India's) hits the other's airbases with impunity and that air force (Pakistan's) is not able to respond, then the air force, which has put the other's airbases out of commission, has won.'
'The greatest loss from replacing the 126 Rafale proposal with the 2016 contract for 36 Rafales might not be the extra money paid, but the opportunity that India's aerospace industry lost of obtaining access to critical aviation technologies and manufacturing skills.'
RM took stock of progress in production of the fighter jets whose delivery to India will begin in September next year.
The French have been rewarded for their obstinacy with exactly what they wanted -- an order for fully built Rafales without technology transfer.
Sources said a high-level team of the Indian Air Force is already in Paris to coordinate with the French officials on the handing over ceremony.
'This strike has certainly enhanced your image.' 'Otherwise, people would have called you a damp squib, capable of doing nothing except talking big.'
