A fourth batch of three Rafale fighter jets landed in India on Wednesday night after flying continuous from France, in an extra enhance to the strike functionality of the Indian Air Force.
The jets had been offered mid-air refuelling by air power tankers of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the IAF stated.
The 4th batch of three IAF #Rafales landed on Indian soil after a direct ferry from #IstresAirBase France,” it tweeted.
The IAF additionally thanked the UAE air power for refuelling the Rafale jets, describing it as yet one more milestone within the sturdy relationship between the 2 air forces.
The IAF didn’t disclose the bottom the place the Rafale jets landed.
“Another batch of #Rafale take to the skies on non stop flight to India with mid air refueling by UAE. Indian Air power grows further,” the Indian Embassy in France tweeted earlier.
With the arrival of the three jets, the scale of the Rafale fleet has elevated to 14.
The first batch of 5 Rafale jets arrived in India on July 29, practically 4 years after India signed an inter-governmental settlement with France to acquire 36 of the plane at a value of Rs 59,000 crore.
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The formal induction ceremony of the fleet had taken place at Ambala on September 10 final.
A second batch of three Rafale jets arrived in India on November 3, whereas a 3rd batch of one other three jets joined the IAF on January 27.
The first Rafale squadron is predicated in Ambala air power station.
The Indian Air Force is ready to lift the second squadron of the Rafale fight jets in mid-April and it will likely be based mostly in Hasimara air base in West Bengal, in response to navy officers.
India is anticipated to get extra Rafale jets from France within the subsequent few months.
The Rafale jets, manufactured by French aerospace main Dassault Aviation, are India’s first main acquisition of fighter planes in 23 years after the Sukhoi jets had been imported from Russia.
The Rafale jets are able to carrying a spread of potent weapons. European missile maker MBDA’s Meteor past visible vary air-to-air missile, Scalp cruise missile and MICA weapons system would be the mainstay of the weapons package deal of the Rafale jets.