India | October 08, 2019 18:03 IST
India, finally, has its Rafale! Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday received the first Rafale combat jet at Merignac Airport in France, powering the Indian Air Force to newer heights of air dominance and unrivalled deep strike capability. This is the formal handover ceremony but the first batch of four Rafale jets will fly to their home base in India by May 2020. All 36 jets are expected to arrive in India by September 2022. It was in September 2016 when India ordered 36 Rafale fighter jets from France in a deal worth Rs 59,000 crore.