Indian Air Force and Rafale: The First Aircraft are Inducted into the IAF

New Delhi. The Indian Air Force ceremonially inducted its first five Rafale Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) September 10 with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh handing over the commissioning plaque to the Commanding Officer of the Number 17 Golden Arrows, Gp Capt Harkirat Singh.

It was a proud moment for India, said Rajnath Singh, and his French counterpart, Florence Parly who had flown in as the Chief Guest for the occasion, shared the sentiment as an example of Indo-French strategic cooperation, pointing out that France will always be on India’s side. Top representatives of Dassault Aviation, which makes the Rafale, and its partner companies Safran (Engines), Thales (EW Systems) and MBDA (Missiles), were in her delegation.

“It’s a game-changer and a lesson to our neighbours for the situation they have created on the borders,” Rajnath Singh, speaking in Hindi, declared while terming the induction of the first five of the 36 Rafale fighters that India has purchased from France as a “historic occasion and a matter of pride” for the country.