At last, after nearly a year of deliberations, the matter of selecting fighter aircraft for India's newly inducted indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, has been settled. On July 13, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on his way to Paris for a two-day visit, a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) convened by defence minister Rajnath Singh granted the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) to the Indian Navy to acquire 26 Rafale Marine (Rafale-M) fighter jets from France. The deal to procure the Rafale-Ms will cost India at least $8 billion (Rs 65,920 crore) and will be executed through an intergovernmental agreement between India and France. India will acquire 22 single-seater Rafale-Ms and four of its twin-seater trainer versions. They are expected to be based at Visakhapatnam, the home base of INS Vikrant. According to military aviators, the Rafale-M is considered among the world's most advanced carrier-borne fighter jets, and its induction in the Indian Navy will add immense capability in terms of its strike, air defence and reconnaissance missions.
The AoN being the first stage of a long-drawn process of defence procurement, officials involved in negotiations claim that it will take months, or even a year, to finalise the Rafale-M deal. Once the negotiations on cost and techno-commercial details are concluded, the deal will require final clearance from the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by PM Modi before being finally inked. The first Rafale-M is expected to arrive in India at least two-three years after the contract is signed. However, some MoD officials say that given the urgency of the matter, the Indian Navy might ask Rafale manufacturer Dassault Aviation to spare at least four or five RafaleMs from its ongoing orders for the French navy.
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Denne historien er fra August 07, 2023-utgaven av India Today.
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A Life IN MUSIC
To celebrate five decades of a storied musical career, Padma Shri Hariharan is headlining a special concert in Delhi on November 30
MURDERS MOST FOUL
SAMYUKTA BHOWMICK'S DEBUT NOVEL, A FATAL DISTRACTION, IS A WHODUNIT THAT GOES BEYOND MERELY PAYING TRIBUTE TO THE MASTERS OF THE GENRE
Jungle Book
Avtar Singh creates a compelling tableau of characters brought together and torn asunder by migration, epidemic and circumstance
BON VOYAGE
The award-winning stage adaptation of Yann Martel's Life of Pi is coming to Mumbai this December
Earning His ACTING CHOPS
HIS LATEST STINT IN THE BUCKINGHAM MURDERS, WHICH JUST RELEASED ON NETFLIX, CEMENTS THE MULTI-HYPHENATE RANVEER BRAR'S REPUTATION AS A FINE ACTOR
Strike a Pose
SOONI TARAPOREVALA'S SERIES DEBUT WAACK GIRLS ON PRIME VIDEO SHINES A LIGHT ON THE STREET DANCE STYLE OF WAACKING
FATAL ATTRACTION
In I Want to Talk, Shoojit Sircar continues his exploration of death with the portrait of a tenacious man who beats it time and again
LOVE LETTER TO THE MOUNTAINS
'Journeying Across the Himalayas' is a new multidisciplinary festival in Delhi with a focus on the Himalayan region and its communities
The Art of CURATION
Sunil Kant Munjal, founder patron of the Serendipity Arts Foundation, on how one of our biggest multi-disciplinary festivals came about and what to look forward to in this edition
THE ROCKY ROAD AHEAD
A US court's allegations of bribery in solar power contracts and US markets watchdog SEC's charges of concealing wrongdoings have jolted Gautam Adani's business empire. Even as he mounts a strong defence against the indictment, the group faces a crisis of investor confidence that may impact its growth plans