India's biggest fighter deal in a generation has a deadline. Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said on 1 October that the bids for 114 more Dassault Rafale jets for the Force aérienne indienne are being evaluated, and that New Delhi expects to reach a conclusion before the end of this year.
He added two details that matter almost as much as the timeline. Dassault has agreed to integrate Indian weapons on the aircraft. And India has not decided to buy any foreign fifth-generation fighter, closing the door, for now, on both the Russian Su-57 and the American F-35.
Informations clés
- Programme: 114 additional Dassault Rafale fighters for the Indian Air Force
- Statut: Bids under evaluation after the request for proposals
- Chronologie: "Some conclusion" before the end of this year, per the Defence Secretary
- Model: Buy-and-make, with most aircraft assembled in India
- Armes : Dassault has agreed to integrate Indian weapons and systems
- Fifth-generation: No decision to buy a foreign fifth-generation fighter
- Tejas Mk2: First flight now expected in mid-2027
- Said: 1 October 2026, to the ANI news agency
What the Defence Secretary said
Singh made the comments to ANI. The Rafale buy is structured as a buy-and-make programme, with the bulk of the aircraft assembled in India and what he called significant levels of indigenisation.
Indian reports differ on whether "the end of this year" means December 2026 or the end of India's financial year in March 2027. Either way, it would move the programme from approval to contract in roughly a year.
The deal has been moving steadily through New Delhi's procurement machinery. In February 2026 India's Defence Acquisition Council approved the requirement, and a letter of request to France followed in June.
Indian weapons on a French jet
The weapons point is the political centrepiece. India wants its own missiles and bombs on the aircraft, rather than depending entirely on French weapons and French permission to integrate anything else.
Access to the Rafale's systems has been a sticking point. In August, reports said the talks had run into a dispute over source code, which India wants in order to integrate its own weapons and sensors. Singh's statement suggests that, at least on weapons integration, the two sides have found a way through.
No foreign fifth-generation jet
Singh was equally clear on the other big question in Indian air power.
Russia has openly offered India the Su-57, et le F-35 has been floated in US-India talks. India instead is putting its weight behind its own AMCA stealth fighter, whose development partners are now responding to requests for proposals, and the Tejas family. The Tejas Mk2, the heavier development of the light fighter, is now expected to make its first flight in mid-2027.
The 114 Rafales are meant to fill the gap until those programmes deliver. With the Indian Air Force well below its sanctioned strength of 42 fighter squadrons, the gap is real, and the end of the year is not very far away.
Sources: ANI, The Tribune, The News Mill, Naval News, Asian Military Review
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