India will receive the latest Rafale aircraft from France this week

The latest batch of three Rafale planes is scheduled to arrive in India from France next week, boosting the capabilities of the Indian Air Force as a result of a tense border dispute with neighboring China.

Three fighters will fly directly from France to India, passing a refueling road in flight.

“The IAF has accepted the supply of aircraft to France, and the ways of their ferry to India are being worked out and should arrive in India by the middle of next week,” Hindu quoted As the defense spokesman said.

Meanwhile, France is upgrading all Indian Rafale 13 aircraft with India-specific enhancements for greater mortality. The improvements will likely include a more powerful radar warning receiver, flight recorder, altimeter and engine start at high altitude.

India received the first batch of five Rafales in July 2020 after signing a crore for 59,000 Indian rupees ($ 9.4 billion) an agreement with the French company Dassault Aviation to purchase 36 aircraft in 2016.

Rafale’s contract is one of the largest in India’s recent history, as the country has acquired fighter jets for the first time in two decades. The last time it imported Sukhoi fighters from Russia was in 1996.