India has finalised a Letter of Request (LoR( to procure 114 Rafale fighter jets for the Indian Air Force and is expected to send it to France within the next few weeks, The Indian Express reported, citing senior officials.
Of the 114 jets, approximately 90 are to be manufactured domestically through a collaboration between French aerospace giant Dassault Aviation and an Indian partner company, while the remaining aircraft will be delivered in fly-away condition. The indigenous component in the jets is expected to be nearly 50%.
An LoR is a formal government-to-government document used to initiate defence procurement under the Foreign Military Sales or Intergovernmental Agreement route, outlining the capabilities, quantities and technical requirements being sought.
Once France responds, India will formalise the Request for Proposal for the acquisition. The Cabinet Committee on Security must grant final approval before a contract is signed.
The LoR comes three months after the Defence Acquisition Council cleared the long-pending proposal. IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh is scheduled to visit France in early June, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit later in the month. The government is aiming to sign the contract by the end of this year, according to The Indian Express.
India has also been negotiating access to Interface Control Documents — technical blueprints that would allow the integration of indigenous weapons, including the Astra missile and BrahMos-NG, onto the jets. Complete access to the source code, however, is considered unlikely, The Indian Express reported.
The IAF currently operates 36 Rafales, and the Navy is separately set to induct 26 Rafale M aircraft for carrier operations. The expanded fleet is expected to help reduce logistical and training costs while addressing a serious capability gap — the IAF currently fields 29 fighter squadrons against a sanctioned strength of 42.
The Rafales are intended to bridge that gap until India's indigenous fighter programmes, including the LCA Mk1A, LCA Mk2 and the fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft, reach operational maturity. The AMCA is not expected to enter service before 2035, The Indian Express reported.
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