India to Get 114 Rafale Jets as Government Clears Rs 3.25 Lakh Cr Deal

New Delhi: Latest reports indicate that the Defense Acquisition Council, led by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, approved the purchase of 114 Rafale fighter jets on Thursday. The Rs 3.25 lakh crore deal was signed at the Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) meeting today.

Several important projects, including the purchase of air defense missiles for a large number of Scalp cruise missiles from France, P-8I maritime surveillance aircraft and Sudarshan S-400 long-range air defense missiles from the United States, are expected to be discussed by the Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) at its meeting, likely on Thursday.

At the meeting chaired by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, a major domestic project for the purchase of approximately 100 thousand Vibhav point attack anti-tank mines developed by the Defense Research and Development Organization is also expected to be approved.

India has plans to purchase 114 Rafale multirole fighter jets from France under a deal that is also called the ‘mother of all defense deals’ and will be at least five times larger than any military hardware deal signed by the country so far.

The Air Force also has plans to purchase a significant number of Scalp cruise missiles for its existing fleet of Rafale fighter jets.

The DAC meeting is also expected to discuss the purchase of six more P-8I maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft from the United States, within the scope of a deal worth approximately US$ 3 billion. The meeting is also expected to approve the proposal to hold a tender for the supply of large quantities of missiles for the Sudarshan air defense system, which dealt multiple blows to the Pakistan Air Force in Operation Sindoor. The tender will be awarded to Russian state institutions in accordance with new intergovernmental agreements signed between the two countries.

Many proposals for overhauling the Indian army’s armored vehicle fleet are also expected to be discussed at the meeting.