Five Rafale jets land in India: All you need to know

With a combat range of 780-km to 1,650-km depending on mission, the Rafales come armed with a deadly weapons package, advanced avionics, radars and electronic warfare systems to prevent jamming by adversaries and ensure superior survivability in hostile contested airspace.


The Rafales are armed with 'Meteor' air-to-air missiles (120-150 km strike range), 'Scalp' air-to-ground cruise missiles (over 300 km) and other armaments.

The Meteor missiles are arguably the best in the world for air combat duels, with “a greater no-escape zone” for hostile fighters than any comparable BVR (beyond visual range) weapon. Pakistan and China do not currently have any missiles of this class in their combat inventories.

Each Rafale can also carry two fire-and-forget Scalp cruise missiles to hit high-value fortified targets well over 300-km away.

India is planning to also equip its new Rafale fighter jets, which already have a deadly weapons package, with the “Hammer” air-to-ground precision-guided munitions amid the ongoing military confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh.

The 20- to 70-km range Hammers, designed to destroy bunkers, hardened shelters and other targets in all terrains including the mountainous ones in eastern Ladakh, will be procured under the emergency financial powers granted to the armed forces during the confrontation with China.

They will be able to outgun and outrun Pakistani F-16 and JF-17 as well as the Chinese Chengdu J-20 fighters.

The Rafales will also be equipped with the MICA weapon system which is integrated into IAF's Mirage 2000 aircraft. They are also capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

The 13 India-Specific Enhancements (ISEs) or upgrades on the 36 Rafales will become fully operational in 2022 after undergoing “software certification” after all the jets have arrived in India.

The upgrades range from radar enhancements, Israeli helmet-mounted displays and low-band jammers to towed decoy systems, 10-hour flight data recording and engine capability for "cold start" from high-altitude regions like Ladakh.

The Ambala and Hashimara airbases will house 18 each for the western and eastern fronts.


The arrangements to welcome this multirole flying machine of IAF began in Ambala last September, when the 17-Squadron, the "Golden Arrows", was resurrected at the airbase to equip with Rafale aircraft. The 17-Squadron was formed in Ambala on October 1, 1951, under the command of Flight Lieutenant D L Springett and was equipped with Harvard-II B aircraft. By November 1955, the squadron converted fully to De Havilland Vampire and by 1957, Hawker Hunter aircraft were flown by the 'Golden Arrows'.

The squadron converted to the Mig-21 M in 1975 and actively participated in Goa Liberation Campaign in December 1961 and in 1965 operations as a reserve force.

In 2016, the Defence Ministry of India signed a deal with France's Dassault Aviation for purchase of 36 new Rafale fighter jets for 7.87 billion euro. All the 36 Rafales are slated to be delivered by end-2021.


In accordance with the contract, Indian Air Force pilots and supporting personnel have been provided full training on aircraft and weapon systems by Dassault. At least 12 IAF pilots have been trained in operating Rafale. Further batches of IAF pilots will continue training over the next nine months.

The jets have arrived two decades after IAF first demanded such fighters, and an intense BJP-Congress political dogfight over corruption allegations in the last couple of years.

The opposition Congress party accused the BJP govt of buying the aircraft at a price higher than what was being negotiated by a Congress-led govt before PM Narendra Modi came to power in 2014. On November 14, 2019, the Supreme Court of India rejected petitions seeking a probe into the matter.