114 Rafale Deal: France Sets Mid-August Timeline for Official Response to India

New Delhi: In the 114 Rafale fighter jet deal, France is expected to submit its official response to the Indian Letter of Request (LoR) for the project by mid-August.

The French officials have now sought time till mid-August to submit their response to the Indian Letter of Request given to France in May this year, defence officials told ANI.

The officials added that the two sides would be negotiating on price and other important aspects after the French response is received, they said.

India had issued the Letter of Request (LoR) to France for the mega government-to-government deal for 114 Rafale fighter jets for the Indian Air Force in May this year.

The deal would see 94 Rafale jets being manufactured in India by the French manufacturer Dassault Aviation in partnership with an Indian company.

The aircraft are critical for meeting the critical requirements of the Indian Air Force as its squadron strength is dwindling due to the phasing out of the vintage aircraft, including the variants of the Russian-origin MiG fighter jets and major delays in the induction of indigenous aircraft like the LCA Mark 1A and LCA Mark 2.

While the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy have placed orders for 62 Rafale planes already, the 114 Rafale order will take the numbers to 176. The Indian Navy has also already expressed its intent to induct 31 more of these planes to tackle maritime threats, and that may take the number of Rafales in the country to over 200.

The Defence Ministry had carried out a major study under Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh to enhance the capability of the Indian Air Force soon after he took over in 2024, and the Defence Ministry has been working towards that in a focused manner.

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) had cleared the Indian Air Force proposal to acquire the 114 Rafale jets over four months ago.