India, France Reach Defense Deal for Rafale-M Fighters, To Be Signed on Macron State Visit to New Delhi

India and France might be on the edge of signing a defense deal for French Rafale-M Fighters during French President Emmanuel Macron's state visit in March.

Macron To Ink Defense Deal with India

A deal for more than 26 Rafale fighters might be approved during President Macron's March 2023 trip to Delhi, based on a report issued on January 4 in the French publication La Tribune. The exact dates of the presidential visit have yet to be announced.

The document conjectured that the Indian side had certainly been working on the proceedings for signing a contract through March 2023, since that year marks the 25th anniversary of the strategic collaboration between the two nations. to be announced. But nothing is verified as the Indian government or the Indian Navy has not confirmed any commitment, reported The EurAsian Times.

Former French Defense Minister Florence Parly told the press in December 2021 that Dassault Aviation could win a request for "26 to 57 Rafale jets in Navy variant." Even so, an agreement could now be approved for 26 Rafale Marine fighter jets rather than 57 units.

The Indian Navy previously assessed the French Dassault Aviation Rafale-M as well as the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet to augment its shrinking and infirm fleet of carrier-based MiG-29K fighters. These aircraft were evaluated months apart at a shore-based testing facility in Goa, India.

For the Defense Ministry to make a final determination on the purchase, the Indian Navy completed a comprehensive summary on Rafale and Super Hornets just after the testing, as reported in The Times of India.

Based on the report, the Rafale is "more appropriate" to acquire and can meet the operations and maintenance criteria and requirements than the Super Hornets.

Previously, military experts tried to claim that the Rafale wings could not be tucked, causing them to take up additional space on the aircraft carrier's deck. The F/18 Super Hornet, in contrast, had one slight edge due to its foldable wing system.

However, other characteristics of the marine version of the jet were observed in the report, giving it an advantage. These 26 carrier-based planes are temporary until the country develops and generates its twin-engine deck-based fighter (TEDBF).

The remaining aircraft will be provided by the Indian company Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., not the United States, by a document in another local French media outlet, BFM TV.

Based on best guesses, the Indian Navy will acquire the HAL Tejas Mark-2 multi-mission aircraft, which is expected to be operational between 2024 and 2026 and cannot be independently verified as accurate claims.

Rafale-M Fighters with the Tejas Mark-2

The LCA Mark 2 multirole fighter jet is a more extreme form of the indigenous LCA Tejas jet fighter. Tejas Mk-2, a 4.5th generation fighter created by the Aeronautical Development Agency, is anticipated to become the most sophisticated Tejas version designed and built indigenously.

Based on the previous arguments, it is implausible that the Indian Navy would have been keen on the Tejas Mk-2 because it does not require eligibility as a carrier-based airframe.

This defense deal between India and France for a tender Rafale-M Fighters could be feasible during the Macron state visit.