The second batch of three Rafale jets has arrived in India, the Air Force tweeted on November 4. It is the first western combat aircraft to join the fleet 23 years after the Sukhoi aircraft from Russia. The jets had covered the 7,000-odd km flying non-stop from France, the IAF posted after the three aircraft landed. The delivery had started nearly four years after India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 aircraft at a cost of ₹ 59,000 crore. The induction of all 36 jets will be completed by 2023, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria has said. The first batch of five jets had arrived in India on July 29. That time, the jets had refuelled midair and made a stopover at Al-Dhafra airbase in the United Arab Emirates. The jets were the highlight of the 88th anniversary of the Air Force last month. The newly inducted fleet has also been carrying out sorties in eastern Ladakh, where Indian and Chinese troops have been engaged in a bitter face-off for months.
