NEW DELHI: India will purchase 26 Rafale Marine (M) from France soon, as the deal has been cleared by Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the highest decision-making body of the government. The sources on April on 9 confirmed that the deal has been given the go-ahead. The move is aimed at strengthening the country’s maritime air combat capability. The procurement deal to be worth around 63,000 crores, highest so far, will include 26 Rafale M aircraft, consisting of 22 single-seater and four double-seater trainer versions.The deal for 156 Light Combat Helicopters, Prachand, signed recently between the Ministry of Defence and HAL was estimated to be about Rs 62,700 crore. The final documentary formalities are expected to be officially inked later visit to India. The Navy has been exploring options to replace its ageing MiG-29K as a short-term solution. India has been working on developing its own twin-engine deck-based fighters as a long-term solution to its need for carrier-based fighters. Since it will take a few years for the aircraft to be indigenously developed, the Navy has decided to go in for the acquisition to meet its requirement. The Rafale M is a multi-role fighter jets with a reinforced undercarriage to bear the stresses of carrier landing. “Short take-off but arrested recovery” is a mechanism to launch and recover aircraft from the aircraft carrier.
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