The Indian Navy has selected Rafale M of France for its fleet. After this deal of mega billion dollars, the strength of the Navy will increase manifold. It is being said that this deal may be signed when French President Emmanuel Macron visits India in March. India has chosen the Rafale M instead of the US jet F/A-18 Super Hornet.
PARIS
The relations between France and India seem to be moving towards a new direction after a deal. Earlier the Indian Air Force had chosen Rafale for its new squadron, now the Navy has also given preference to Rafale. According to the French media, this deal can be signed between the two countries when French President Emmanuel Macron visits India in March.
Interestingly, he has rejected the American jet F/A-18 Super Hornet for this deal. This deal is being termed a milestone in the relations between India and France. If you believe in defence sources, then the Navy has signed a multi-billion dollar deal with France for 26 Rafale M.
Dassault Aviation, the maker of Rafale, is confident that Rafale can be approved for the Indian Navy’s warship INS Vikrant. Rafale M is still being used by the armies of Greece, Indonesia and UAE.
The special thing is that the Navy has rejected the American jet F / A-18 Super Hornet. Both jets were trialled by the Navy earlier this year. A detailed report of this trial was submitted to the Defense Ministry of India in December. Both fighter jets were tested at INS Hansa, a naval base in Goa.
why choose Rafael
The Navy believes that Rafale can meet its needs much better. The Navy wants to remove 43 out-of-date Russian fighter jets MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB from its fleet. The Navy had several aircraft names in mind but the final race was between the Rafale M and the F-18. The French Navy currently has 240 Rafale M jets. Dassault started manufacturing these jets from the year 1986.
Both jets are already deployed on advanced aircraft carriers. In such a situation, both jets are fit for aircraft carriers equipped with the CATOBARs system. The Navy currently has a new aircraft carrier INS Vikrant and an older INS Vikramaditya. Vikramaditya is a Kyiv-class aircraft carrier of the Soviet Union which has been modernized in India. Both these warships are STOBAR aircraft carriers.
Fighter jets can make an arrested landing on a carrier equipped with the CATOBAR system. Although STOBAR-equipped carriers have arresting gears, the lack of catapults makes it difficult for jets to take off in confined spaces.
The jets on both carriers are able to take off with the help of a ski jump. This is where Rafael M has nailed it. At present, the Navy has deployed its MiG-29 fleet on INS Vikramaditya.
The Rafale M had successfully carried out a series of maneuvers on the US Navy’s aircraft carrier USS George HW Bush just a few days ago. Both Super Hornet and Rafale M are equipped with Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar.
The RBE2-AA radar is fitted in the Rafale M. This radar can scan and track targets on air, sea and land. Rafael M is heavy on Super Hornet because of its visual range.
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