India and France have finalized negotiations on the purchase of 26 Rafale fighter jets for the Indian Navy.

This was reported by Scramble.

The official signing of the agreement is expected in April 2025 during the visit of the French Minister of Defense to India. The total value of the contract is estimated at USD 7.6 billion.

The Rafale M will replace the MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB, which are currently operated by the Navy as part of the 300 Squadron (INAS 300) “White Tigers” and 303 Squadron (INAS 303) “Black Panthers”. The new fighters will operate from the aircraft carriers INS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya.

It is reported that the 26 Rafale aircraft will include 22 Rafale M fighters adapted for use on aircraft carriers. And four two-seat Rafale B trainer aircraft. Two-seat trainer aircraft are not intended for aircraft carrier operations and will be used for ground training.

According to The Hindu, delivery of the new fighters is expected to begin in 2029.

In addition, Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of the Rafale fighter jets, is also considering setting up a final assembly line in India. This step is necessary to meet the growing production needs due to the large number of orders. It also reflects India’s new “Make in India” doctrine, which stipulates that 60% of the weapons purchased must be produced in India.

Including the new order for India, Dassault’s current order backlog already includes 256 aircraft, of which 190 are for export customers and 56 for the French Air Force and Space Force. At the current production rate, which the company plans to raise to 3 aircraft per month, it will take the company about 7 years to fulfill the existing order.

At the same time, in February, the French Minister of Defense announced plans for an additional purchase of 20 to 30 Rafale fighters.

Rafale in India

India’s plans to purchase an additional 26 Rafale fighters became known in July 2023. At that time, the Indian Ministry of Defense gave initial approval for the purchase of 26 fighters for its navy and three Scorpene-class submarines.

These will complement the 36 Rafale aircraft ordered in 2016, the last two of which were delivered in December 2022. During the 36th flight, 13 India Specific Enhancements were installed, tested and certified for the Indian Air Force.

These 13 modifications include: an Israeli helmet-mounted display system and an expanded list of missiles, including Meteor guided missiles, flight data recorders with 10 hours of data storage, an infrared target acquisition and tracking system, an improved synthetic aperture radar, cold weather engine starters for use from high altitude airfields, and more.