TSAMTO, July 11. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to visit Paris on July 13-14. During the visit, India and France are expected to sign a roadmap in the defense industry.
According to Scramble Magazine, in addition to this agreement, a contract will also be signed for the purchase of 26 single-seat Rafale-M fighters from Dassault Aviation for the Indian Navy. The Defense Procurement Council (DAC) will vote for the so—called "Approval of the need for procurement" (AoN - Acceptance of Necessity) in the coming days.
The Rafale-M fighter of the French company Dassault Aviation became the leader in the tender, which provides for the acquisition of 26 multi-purpose carrier-based fighters for the aircraft carrier Vikrant. Hindustan Times in December 2022 reported that the French "Rafale-M" beat the only contender – F/A-18E/F Block.3 "Super Hornet" of the American Boeing under the MRCBF (Multi-Role Carrier-Borne Fighter) program.
The Indian Navy Aviation Command has submitted a corresponding report on the evaluation tests that have been conducted since January 2022 at the Hansa Air Base in Goa. It was reported that based on this report, the Ministry of Defense of India will make a final decision on the selection of the winner of the tender.
Recall that the Indian Navy, within the framework of an intergovernmental agreement on the results of the tender, plans to purchase 26 carrier-based fighters for the future configuration of the first national aircraft carrier of the Vikrant class (IAC-1), which was commissioned on September 2, 2022.
The Indian Navy aircraft carrier Vikramaditya is currently equipped with Russian-made MiG-29K/KUB fighters. Flights from Vikrant are also currently operated by MiG-29K/KUB.
It is expected that in the future, aircraft carriers of their own construction will be equipped with Indian–made LCA Tejas (LCA Navy) carrier-based fighters (according to the plan, the prototype is expected to be ready in 2026, serial production - from 2032), and before that it was planned to purchase new aircraft in France or in the USA.
So far, the idea of completing aircraft carriers with a deck version of the LCA had to be abandoned due to the "immaturity" of technology. Thus, 26 aircraft will be purchased based on the results of the tender.
As expected, all 26 Rafale-M fighters will be single-seat. Indian Navy pilots will be trained in France, as well as on simulators at the Hansa Air Base. One squadron of 18 aircraft will be on board (R11) Vikrant, and the remaining eight will be based at Hansa Air Base as a reserve for rotation.
