Around 80 per cent of the fleet will be assembled in India, with parts being progressively made in the country
India already has 36 Rafales – the IAF received the last C variants in December 2024 – and has ordered 26 M naval variants.
“With only 29 fighter squadrons, the IAF faces a daunting task in a highly dynamic and complex geostrategic environment and there is a need to find multiple ways to overcome this shortage,” retired IAF air marshal Ravi Gopal Krishana Kapoor told This Week in Asia.
The new additions would be a significant boost given that the fighter jet performed “very well” in Operation Sindoor last May, he said.
Source: News - South China Morning Post
