Second Batch Of Rafale Jets Arrive From France

To add muscle to Indian Air Force, the second batch of Rafale jets, meant to add muscle to the Indian Air Force, has arrived in India after flying non-stop from France. Four jets were expected to arrive from France in the second lot.

The first batch of five jets had arrived in India on July 29 — nearly four years after India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 of these aircraft at a cost of ₹ 59,000 crore.

The jets — the first western combat aircraft to join the fleet 23 years after the Sukhoi aircraft from Russia — had landed to a special water cannon salute at the Ambala air base.

“Welcome home ‘Golden Arrows’. Blue skies always,” the Indian Air Force tweeted with a photo of the Rafales in the “Arrow formation”.