India to acquire 26 Rafale jets, 3 Scropene submarines for Naval Army
The proposals for the purchase have been placed before the Defence Ministry. They are to be announced during Modi's Paris visit on July 13-14
New Delhi: India is likely to buy 26 Rafale jets and three Scorpene submarines for its Naval Army, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Paris, later this week.
The proposals for the same have already been placed before the Defence Ministry by the armed forces. They are to be announced during Modi’s Paris visit on July 13-14.
Reportedly, Modi is to sign the acquisition for India to buy the Rafale-marine fighters and three additional Scorpene class submarines that are to be built at Mumbai’s Mazagon Dockyards.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will chair a meeting by the Defence Acquisition Council on July 12, in order to proceed with the inter-governmental agreement (IGA) for the acquisition of the jets from France. The jets to be procured will be channeled through a Government-Government deal instead of an open-tender route.
The Navy had been wanting to acquire the fighter jets and submarines for quite some time, owing to the strategic shortages they had been facing in the face of several security challenges and concerns. The deals are reportedly worth over 90,000 crore.
India has already brought a total of 36 Rafale jets from France for the Indian Air Force. France is the first major acquisition of fighter planes in 23 years.
Ms Kalinga