NEW DELHI (Sputnik) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande agreed to supply the Indian Air Force with 36 French-built Rafale multirole fighters in April. Initially India planned to buy 126 Rafale jets to modernize its air force.
"We are looking forward to receiving the Rafales. Apart from this, there are other aircraft we are looking at. We will also be getting more Su-30MKIs. An order has also been placed for 120 Tejas Mk-IIs. There are many plans and things will change in the next 10-12 years," Raha said on Sunday, as quoted by The Economic Times.
He added that the need for new fighters stems from the upcoming retirement of the country's Mig-27 ML fighter jets that have not been upgraded in recent years.
India is planning to form several additional fighter squadrons in the near future.