The contract was approved by the defence ministry during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s current two-day visit to India. India is seeking to purchase 26 Rafale Marine fighter aircraft from France to equip its own aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.
The transaction is anticipated to cost around 5 billion euros, however the specifics and costs have yet to be worked out.

The French fighter Rafale Marine, commonly known as Rafale M, was chosen above American fighter F/A 18 Super Hornets. In the shore-based testing facility in Goa, both were flight tested.

One significant benefit of the Rafale M was that it was already in use by the Indian Air Force (IAF), which meant that spare parts and maintenance could be shared, saving money.

Around 80% of the components between the Rafale M and the aircraft flown by the IAF are the same. The key distinction between the two variants of the aircraft is that the Rafale M has stronger nose and main landing gears to accommodate challenging aircraft carrier landing and catapulting conditions.

The catapult bar and its operational mechanism, coupled with the shock absorber’s “jump strut technology,” are all included in the nose gear of the Rafale M. According to the product’s maker, Dassault Aviation, this aids in providing the aircraft with a catapult angle of attack.

According to the company’s website, “The Rafale M is the only non-US kind of fighter certified to operate from the decks of US carriers, using their catapults and their arresting gear.”

Rafale M: What is it?

The Rafale M is a single-seat aircraft manufactured by the French company Dassault Aviation that can perform “quick reaction alert,” air defence and air policing missions, nuclear deterrence duties, power projection and deployments for external missions, deep strike missions, air support for ground forces, reconnaissance missions, and pilot training sorties.

The wing span of the Rafale M is 10.90 metres. The distance between an aircraft’s two wingtips, which are located on either side, is known as the wing span in aviation. The size of an aeroplane is often determined by its wingspan. Rafale M measures 15.30 metres in length and 5.30 metres in height.

With a maximum takeoff weight of 24.5 tonnes and an external load of 9.5 tonnes, Rafale is classified by Dassault Aviation as belonging to the 10-tonne class. The term “take-off weight” refers to the highest mass at which an aeroplane may launch; this component is approved due to the aircraft’s structural limitations.

The “service ceiling” of the Rafale M is 50,000 feet, which is the height at which an aircraft can no longer rise more quickly than 100 feet per minute in normal air conditions.

Although the aircraft’s maximum speed is 750 knots, its approach speed is less than 120 knots (222.24 km/h) (1,389 kmph).

On the same sortie, the Rafale M is capable of conducting air-to-ground strikes, air-to-air assaults, and interceptions.

The mission system of the Rafale has the potential to integrate different armaments such as the long-range air-to-air missile Meteor, the air-to-air ‘Beyond Visual Range’ MICA, the HAMMER, the long-range stand-off missile SCALP, anti-ship missile AM39 EXOCET, laser-guided bombs with different warheads and seekers, non-guided classic bombs, as well as the 2,500 rounds per minute NEXTER internal cannon.

The Rafale is referred to by Dassault Aviation as an “omnivore aircraft,” which refers to its capacity to carry out numerous duties concurrently, such as launching air-to-air missiles during a very low altitude penetration phase. Due to its design, the fighter is effective against “conventional and asymmetrical threats.”

French military using the Rafale fighter

Inducted into the French navy as the Standard F1 model, the Rafale’s only capability was air-to-air. The variant went into service in 2004, taking off from the nuclear aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle during the Afghan operation “Enduring Freedom.”

With the introduction of the second version in 2006, the aircraft gained the ability to conduct air-to-air and air-to-ground missions.
The French Ministry of Defense qualified Standard F3, the current version, in 2008.

The first Standard F4 Rafale fighters were delivered to the French air and space force as well as the French navy at the beginning of 2023. According to Dassault Aviation, the Rafale is used by seven French air force units and three French naval units. Dassault Aviation describes the fighter as “battle proven.”

According to media accounts, the French air and space force Rafale fighters undertook combat air patrol and were kept at short notice readiness during the winter of 2022–2023 in the Baltic states following the Russian incursion in Ukraine. They were aided by their French naval equivalents.