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France recently announced a $5.5 billion contract with Dassault Aviation for the procurement of 42 Rafale F4 standard fighter jets as global demand for the platform remains high.
The Dassault Rafale (literally meaning "gust of wind" and "burst of fire") series fighters are built by Dassault Aviation S.A, which is arguably the most time-honored name in French military aviation manufacturing, dating back to 1929.
The French team was headed by an official who is in charge of Asia in their Directorate General of Armament while the Indian team included personnel from the Navy, which will be the user, the sources told ANI. The meeting took place last week and multiple points were taken up for the Defence Cyber Agency (Dcya) soon, they said. In the negotiations with France, the Indian Navy would be represented by Assistant Chief of Naval Staff Rear Admiral Janak Bevli.
India's negotiations to acquire 26 Rafale-M fighter jets and three Scorpene submarines from France have yet to be concluded, according to unnamed sources. While an agreement between India's state-run Mazagon Dock Limited and France's Naval Group has been confirmed for the submarine project, discussions about costs and technical aspects continue. The deal for the jet variant will be finalised at the end of the techno-commercial negotiations. India and France have expanded defence cooperation, and will also develop a new jet engine capable of working with the Indian Air Force.
India has selected the Rafale M as its new carrier-borne fighter, with a contract to be signed later.