NDTV Explains: India's Rs 63,000 Crore Rafale M Fighter Deal. What Is It, Why Is It Important

By 2031 more than 60 French-made Rafale fighter jets - armed to the teeth with a phalanx of conventional and electronic weaponry - will patrol the skies above India's land and seas.

Together, India's Rafales will be at the forefront of efforts to upgrade - rapidly, given threats from China and Pakistan, the latter underlined last week by the Pahalgam terror attack.

Thirty-six C variant jets, the last delivered in December last year, will be operated by the Air Force and 26 M type, now on order from Dassault Aviation for Rs 63,000 crore, will be assigned to the Navy and deployed on board aircraft carriers INS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya.

The Navy's ask was for 57 but it will have to settle for the 26, for now. The shortfall in numbers, though, should be offset by the vastly superior sortie generation rate of a jet that should be more reliable (and be backed by a more alert ops partner) than the Russian-made MiG29K.

The Rafale M deal was signed Monday afternoon, a defence ministry official confirmed.

So what is in it?

What Is India's Rafale M Deal

Broken down, India will buy 22 single-seater Rafale M fighter jets and four twin-seater trainer variants, as well as facilities for fleet maintenance, logistics support, and training of personnel.

The latter is part of a local MRO, or 'maintenance, repair, overhaul', sub-agreement.

This, it would appear, settles the question 'will India buy more Rafale fighters in the future?'

The answer appears to be 'yes'.

Meanwhile, India also negotiated for the inclusion of specific weapons systems, including Astra Mark I air-to-air and Rudram Mark II anti-radiation supersonic missiles. Both were developed in-house.

And, perhaps most significantly, Delhi has also negotiated for indigenous manufacturing of components under offset obligations, which constitute a boost for the 'make in India' initiative.

For defence contracts offset obligations, incidentally, refer to a vendor being required to reinvest a portion of the contract in the country importing the good or service.

What Will India's Rafale M Have

Apart from the Astra and Rudram, it can also be loaded with French-made Exocet anti-ship missiles, the air-launched variants of which have a range of around 70km.

It can also carry the SCALP - a combat-proven, air-launched cruise missile developed by a European firm that can strike hardened targets over 250km away with extreme precision, and have been used in various conflicts worldwide, including the Iraq war and in Libya.

The SCAP deep strike precision missile
Photo Credit: MBDA Systems

And it can also carry the Meteor very long range, air-to-air missile, and an array of sensors and electronic warfare options that make it one of the most lethal multirole fighter jets in the world.

And if that were not enough, it will have precision-guided munitions like the Hammar.

The aircraft is also built to exacting specifications for life on board carriers, with reinforced Sarfran Group landing gears and undercarriage to land at sea, and foldable wings.

Most significantly, the Rafale M is operated only by France and, soon, India, giving Delhi a distinct advantage over regional rivals - i.e., China and Pakistan - in the Indian Ocean Region.

Why The Rafale M

Because India, as a maritime power, needs modern fighter jets to provide integral air cover to naval assets in the Indian Ocean or the Asia-Pacific region, which will allow the country to defend its territorial waters and also strike targets further away from home.

Because an effective naval fighter jet can protect warships and carrier battle groups - and India has two aircraft carriers - within a circumference of hundreds of kilometres.

And also because it is among the "ultimate" fighter jet options - with the United States-made F-35 one of the few that could, conceivably, best it - on the market at this time.

But, most importantly, India needs the Rafale M because it simply must upgrade the Navy's air superiority options that, for now, starts and ends with the aging Russian-made MiG29K.

"Currently we have the MiG29K... it is nearly 15 years old and the country of origin (Russia) is at war (in Ukraine), and so is not in a good position to provide operational support. It is time we got a more modern aircraft," Admiral Arun Prakash (retd.), ex-Chief of Naval Staff, told NDTV.

A Rafale, armed with Mica missiles, operated by the French Air Force
Photo Credit: Dassault Aviation

"The Rafale M is a 4.5-generation fighter jet that is proven in combat and can hold its own against any other, including the Chinese-made J15. We need it to protect our naval assets."

The J15, nicknamed 'the flying shark', is China's first fixed-wing, carrier-based fighter. Beijing has nearly 60 of these already, in addition to as many fourth generation J11 fighters.

And it is this aspect - the weather eye on China and its rapidly expanding and modernising air force and navy - that played a key role in the government's (relatively) rapid Rafale deal-making.

Admiral Prakash underlined that point, telling NDTV, in an earlier interview, "... the fact we've not seen a Chinese task force in our waters is because they lack air cover, integral air cover."

"As soon as they can spare an aircraft carrier, which will provide air cover... I do not doubt that they will put in an appearance in our waters," he said, pointing out Beijing already has logistic support in the area, thanks to berthing facilities in Djibouti and Pakistan.

It also helped that India already operates the Rafale's C variant.

In fact, by also flying the naval type, India can take advantage of the 'buddy-buddy' aerial refuelling system, i.e., which allows one jet to act as a tanker for another allowing both to stay airborne longer