The Indian Air Force gets a major boost in firepower. India welcomes three more Rafale fighter jets today, 31 March. These three are to join the Golden Arrows Squadron in Ambala. Earlier, we informed you about the new additions of 11 planes which will increase them to 21 with the Ambala-based 17 Squadron.
According to reports, these fighter jets will fly directly from France and will be provided mid-air refueling by the UAE. As expected these planes will land in Gujarat at around 7 pm. The nine other left from 11 will be coming in April in the next batch. Out of these, five will be inducted at Hashimara airbase in West Bengal. Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India "It's a matter of great pride that we've been able to deliver on schedule and even ahead of schedule in spite of the Covid-19 pandemic." Senior government sources told ANI, "Three Rafale fighters are arriving in India today directly flying from France with midair refueling support by a friendly Air Force. Following that, we would be getting around 7-8 more of these fighters and their trainer version in the second half of next month. This would greatly boost our capability to carry out our missions." The Air Force fleet joined in the July-August timeframe last year and was quickly operationalized by the Air Force. Now, India has planned to place orders for 114 multi-role fighter aircraft.
The long-range Meteor air-to-air missiles has given an edge to Indian planes over their Chinese and Pakistani rivals. The planes are designed such that the Hammer missiles have enhanced their capability to carry out air-to-ground strikes like the one in Balakot.
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