The fourth batch of three Rafale fighter jets landed in India on Wednesday evening after a ferry flight from France. Indian Air Force (IAf) announced from its social media accounts that “Rafales were refuelled in-flight by UAE Air Force tankers.”
The next batch of nine Rafale fighter jets will be coming in April.
Two M88-3 Safran engines power the Rafale fighter with a thrust of 73 Kilo Newton.
The aircraft started joining the IAF in the July and August last year. IAF patrols China front in eastern Ladakh and other fronts.
India ordered Rafale multirole fighter aircraft under a government-to-government deal with France to acquire 36 aircraft, signing a contract worth $9.27 billion in September 2016. By April-end, more than 50 per cent of these fighters would have arrived in India.
The Rafale entered service with the French Navy in 2004 and with the French Air Force in 2006.
