Rafale: From contract to squadrons

The first five Rafales reached Ambala on 29 July 2020 after a journey that began in France two days earlier. Indian Air Force pilots flew them, with French and Indian tankers helping across the two-stage ferry. A procurement argued over for years had acquired a physical form: aircraft on an Indian air base, ready to enter a squadron. [1]

The batch belonged to the 36-aircraft agreement signed with France on 23 September 2016. Deliveries continued through December 2022, when the defence ministry recorded that all 36 had arrived and both Rafale squadrons were operational. This account follows that acquisition and induction period. [2] [8]

A smaller order after a longer competition

Rafale’s Indian history preceded the Modi government. Dassault’s contract announcement traced the competition to 2007 and the aircraft’s selection to 2012. A financial disclosure published that April recorded selection for a programme intended to provide 126 aircraft, with a signed contract still to be secured. Selection and purchase were separate milestones. [2] [3]

The government that took office in 2014 pursued a different purchase. Narendra Modi announced his intention to acquire 36 Rafales during his April 2015 visit to Paris; the agreement followed the next year. The earlier administration and the IAF had carried out the selection process. The Modi government concluded the smaller order and oversaw its delivery. [2]

The change also altered the industrial proposition. In a November 2016 parliamentary reply, the defence ministry said the 36-aircraft purchase involved no transfer of aircraft technology, although it retained a 50% offset requirement. It cautioned against directly comparing its cost with the earlier bids because the deliverables differed. Offsets and the ability to manufacture the aircraft were consequently different things. [4]

Two bases, a new weapons package

Formal induction into Ambala’s 17 Squadron, the Golden Arrows, took place on 10 September 2020. Hasimara in West Bengal followed on 28 July 2021, when 101 Squadron became the second Rafale unit. At that ceremony, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria linked the choice of Hasimara to strengthening capability in the eastern sector. [5] [6]

The purchase brought more than a new airframe. The ministry’s acquisition account identified the Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile and SCALP precision air-to-ground weapon, alongside India-specific enhancements including high-altitude engine starting. Those were additions to the IAF’s equipment and options; their inclusion alone could not establish the outcome of a future engagement. [7]

By the end of 2022, the order had progressed from agreement to deliveries and two operational squadrons. Dassault and its suppliers built the aircraft; Indian crews, technicians and the service’s infrastructure made their induction possible. The earlier ambition to acquire 126 aircraft had produced a different result: a completed purchase of 36, based at Ambala and Hasimara. [1] [3] [8]