Out of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft merely one will be supplied to India until the end of the contract period in April 2022 with India Specific Enhancements. According to The Indian Express, the rest 35 aircraft will be delivered to India from September 2019 onwards, but they will be incorporated with these enhancements in India itself following the contract period with an average of seven aircraft per month.
Particularly, in July, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that the “delivery of 36 Rafale aircraft in a fly-away condition along with associated equipment and weapons will commence from September 2019 and will be completed by April 2022.”
However, it will be only in September 2022 that the full complement of 36 Rafale aircraft will be available with IAF with the India-Specific Enhancements in place.
Sources told the Daily Newspaper, “One of the 36 Rafale aircraft to be supplied to India had commenced test-flying in France last month. India-Specific Enhancements are being flight-tested on this fighter jet. Which is a two-seater Rafale aircraft (RB008). The testing of this aircraft will continue until April 2022, when it will be ready to be delivered to India.”
As the Indian Air Force and French Pilots were jointly undertaking the testing following which will lead to the certification of India-Specific Enhancements. Since, 2017, four officers have been in France for testing and monitoring the production of 36 Rafale aircraft.
“The flight test and certification of the India-Specific Enhancements on one Rafale will be completed within 67 months (until April 2022) of the signing of the contract. All the aircraft cannot be equipped with India-Specific Enhancements unless the flight test is complete and the aircraft is certified to the new capabilities. This is the reason the last aircraft to be delivered is the first to be manufactured,” sources told The Indian Express.
This was the first Rafale deal certified with India-Specific Enhancements, by the time, 35 aircraft would have been delivered to India.
“By the time the first Rafale is certified with India-Specific Enhancements, 35 Rafale aircraft would have already been delivered to India. The 35 aircraft would be modified in India in the next five months. This is a simple plug-and-play process,” sources said.
According to requirements given by the IAF for the 126-aircraft MMRCA deal during the UPA government, at least 13 India-Specific Enhancements demanded by India. Which include enhancement, Helmet Mounted Display, towed decoy system, Low band jammer, radio altimeter and ability to start and operate from High Altitude Airfields. When the BJP led government signed an inter-government agreement for 36 Rafale aircraft in 2016, it did not make any changes to the list of India-Specific Enhancements.
Meanwhile, Indian Express sources told, “four of the remaining 35 Rafale fighter aircraft will be in the production line at Dassault’s plant in Bordeaux at the beginning of next year. It is as per schedule and will lead to delivery of the first French fighter jet to IAF in September 2019. The last Rafale would join the IAF from France by April 2022.”
Also read: Rafale deal: Rahul Gandhi unaware of facts, says IAF deputy chief