The Indian Air Force conducted Exercise Vayushakti-26 at Pokhran, involving over 130 aircraft in day and night operations. President Droupadi Murmu attended the demonstration and flew in an LCH Prachand as the exercise simulated integrated combat, air defence and special forces missions.
Dassault Aviation reported the delivery of 26 Rafale fighter aircraft in 2025, including 15 for export customers and 11 for France, according to unaudited year-end figures. The company also confirmed 26 export Rafale orders linked to the Indian Navy and maintained a backlog of 220 aircraft.
Safran has announced new aviation investments in India, including LEAP and M88 engine MRO centres in Hyderabad and a joint venture with Bharat Electronics Limited to manufacture the Hammer air-to-surface weapon. The company outlined expanded production and engineering plans during a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Dassault has opened a new assembly line critical for boosting Rafale production — but it’ll have to dial up output even more, as it faces a looming Indian order for 114 aircraft on top of the 239 fighters already in its orderbook.
Turkey signed separate agreements at the International Defence Industry Fair in Istanbul last week, with plans to purchase 40 Eurofighter aircraft from the United Kingdom and sell 48 of its indigenous Kaan fighter aircraft to Indonesia.
Dassault reported a record backlog of €48.3 billion, with a current order book of 75 Falcon and 239 Rafale aircraft that includes 186 export orders after its latest order for 26 fighters from the Indian Navy, signed in April this year.
Germany stopped selling weapons to Saudi Arabia over the war on Yemen’s Houthi militia. It has now started selling weapons to Saudi Arabia again, to intercept missile attacks from the same Houthis aimed at Israel.
Enjoy this special video report of the flightline at the Dubai Airshow 2023 held earlier this month.
Saurabh Joshi explains why the Indian Navy’s fighter contest is expected to be cut short, with the aircraft being selected by default in a walkover next month.
In the first edition of a new weekly video series, StratPost editor Saurabh Joshi examines whether India could acquire its first-ever U.S.-built fighter aircraft, with the navy considering the F/A-18 Super Hornet for its next carrier fighter.
Also noteworthy will be the Exocet anti-ship missile, with the SM39 submarine variant already delivered for the Indian Navy’s Scorpene submarines.
French website Mediapart has revealed an agreement was concluded between Dassault and the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group the day before an Indian defence ministry review overturned the selection of the Rafale as the winning bid in the IAF contest for 126 MMRCA fighter aircraft.
IAF: The first batch of five Indian Air Force (IAF) Rafale is likely to arrive in India by end July 2020. The aircraft will be inducted at Air Force Station Ambala on 29 July subject to weather.
The F-15EX is neither a ‘navy fighter’ nor a renamed F-16 and the IAF is curious about it. That’s why the Rafale might finally have a formidable challenger, if India can get past the fact that it’s American.
The IAF’s new contest for fighter aircraft is expected to get underway over the next few months. But there remain a number of significant outstanding problems ahead, that could delay or derail the process.
