India has initiated price negotiations with France for the acquisition of 26 Rafale-M fighter jets for the Indian Navy.

According to a report by The Print, Dassault chief executive officer Eric Trappier is on a two-day visit (October 9-10) to India, during which he is scheduled to meet with Defence Secretary Giridhare Aramane, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar, and IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari.

Earlier, it was reported (August 2023) that India will start price negotiations for Rafale-Ms in the next six to eight weeks.

India had agreed to purchase 26 Rafale-M fighter jets during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to France in July, where he met with French President Emmanuel Macron.

The deal includes the acquisition of 22 Rafale-M single-seater jets and four Rafale-B double-seater jets for training purposes. These aircraft will be deployed on the indigenously designed and developed aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.

The deal is expected to cost the exchequer approximately 5.5 billion euros.

It’s worth noting that the Indian Air Force already operates 36 Rafale fighter jets, which were procured during PM Modi’s visit to France in 2016, under a deal worth 7.87 billion euros.

One squadron of 18 jets is based at Ambala Air Force Base (AFB) in Haryana, while the remaining 18 jets are stationed at Hashimara AFB in West Bengal.

The navy selected Rafale-M jet over the the American Boeing F-18 Super Hornet Block-III, following a series of carrier suitability trials conducted at the shore-based test facility in Goa.

In addition to the Rafale-M jets, the navy is also collaborating with the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s lab Aeronautical Development Agency and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for the development of a twin-engine carrier-capable fighter, the twin-engine deck-based fighter.