ISLAMABAD: The delivery of so-called fifth generation multi-role French made planes Rafale to India has been further delayed which were being deployed at Ambala Air Station near Pakistan’s borders. Now the first plane will be handed over to India when the incumbent India Air Chief Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa will not be there next month due to his retirement.
He tried his level best to get start the delivery in his presence. The Rafale technologically viewed as weak plane among the fifth generation jets since aviation experts aren’t in agreement to accept it as fifth generation plane. Its purchase had throughout been centre of controversies in India.
According to media reports the first Rafael fighter jet is likely to be handed over to India at a ceremony in France on 8th October. It was earlier announced that it will be handed over to Ambala Station next week. The ceremony was to be held on 19th September, but it has been postponed without assigning any reason.
Incidentally, 8th October is celebrated as Air Force Day in India, and the day is coinciding with Hindu festival Dussehra this year. According to the original plan, the first of the 36 Rafale fighters ordered in 2016 was scheduled to be handed over on 19th September in France.
The first batch of four Rafale aircraft is expected to land in India in May 2020. The Dassault Aviation-manufactured Rafale jets will come with various India-specific modifications, including Israeli helmet-mounted displays, radar warning receivers, low band jammers and 10-hour flight data recording, among others.
The IAF’s Ambala-based 17 Squadron, also known as the ‘Golden Arrows’, will be the unit that inducts the Rafales. The squadron was disbanded in 2016 after the IAF started phasing out Soviet made MiG-21s. The sources said the first squadron of the aircraft will be deployed at the Ambala Air Force Station, considered one of the most strategically located bases of the IAF.
The Indo-Pak border is around 220km from there. India had inked an inter-governmental agreement with France in September 2016 for procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets at a cost of around Rs58,000 crores. The opposition Indian Congress raised several questions about the deal, including on rates of the aircraft and alleged corruption but the government has rejected the charges.
The IAF spent around Rs400 crores to develop required infrastructure like shelters, hangers and maintenance facilities at the two bases. According to the deal, the delivery of the jets was to be completed in 67 months from the date the contract was inked.