Deal with France to strengthen Indian Navy(Indian Navy) 

New Delhi: To increase the strength of the Indian Navy, (Indian Navy)    the Indian government has signed a deal for Rafale aircraft with the French government. The governments of India and France have signed a deal for a total of 26 Rafale aircraft and all these Rafales are for the Indian Navy. Let us tell you that out of these 26 Rafales, 22 will be single seater and four twin seater. Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) has been signed for this deal. This deal will include training, simulators, associated equipment, weapons and performance based logistics. Not only this, additional equipment for the existing Rafale fleet of the Indian Air Force is also included in this deal

Rajnath Singh and Sebastian Lecornu signed

Today, on 28 April 2025, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and French Armed Forces Minister Sebastian Lecornu have signed the IGA. Signed copies of the agreement, aircraft package supply protocol and weapon package supply protocol were also exchanged in the presence of Defense Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh at Naval Bhawan in New Delhi.

Let us tell you that the government’s focus is on self-reliant India and under that, the agreement also states that technology will also be transferred to integrate indigenous weapons in India. It is being told that after this deal is done, a large number of jobs will be generated in MSMEs. Along with all this information, let us also tell you that the deal that has been done today is expected to be completed by the year 2030. This means that all these Rafales for the Indian Navy can come to India by 2030.

Difference between Navy and Air Force Rafale
Rafale Marine has foldable wings which is not there in Air Force Rafale.
Rafale Marine has built-in stairs to access the cockpit directly from the deck of the aircraft carrier.
Rafale Marine has a microwave landing system based on aircraft carriers.
Rafale Marine also has a strong undercarriage to withstand the pressure while landing on the aircraft carrier.
Rafale Marine is slightly heavier than the Air Force Rafale as many modifications have been made in it.
Rafale Marine has been specially designed to operate from aircraft carriers.