At a recent event in New Delhi, Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh pointed out that without a strong military, other instruments of national power, like economic heft, lose relevance. The Indian Air Force (IAF) chief was hinting at the ‘elephant in the room’—the alarming decline in IAF fighter aircraft to 29 squadrons against a sanctioned strength of 42. With its main regional adversaries China and Pakistan modernising their fighter fleets, Indian deterrence is waning. Now, to remedy the situation, the Ministry of Defence is working on a proposal from the IAF to acquire 114 (mostly) ‘Made in India’ Rafale fighter jets under the Multi-role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) procurement programme, to be built by the French firm Dassault Aviation in collaboration with Indian aerospace firms with some transfer of technology. Of the 114 aircraft, India plans to acquire 18 in a fly-away condition, or buy them off-the-shelf. The entire deal is estimated to cost Rs 3.25 lakh crores ($36 billion). The selection announcement could be made during French president Emmanuel Macron’s February 19-20 visit to India. The IAF has 36 Rafales in its inventory, while the Indian Navy has ordered 26 aircraft carrier-compatible Rafale Marines.
