India-France Defense Deal: India’s Strong Partnership with France; A giant leap forward in air and maritime security

• Historic agreement between Indo-France countries
• 3.25 Lakh Crore Defense Acquisition Council approval
• Purchase of 114 Rafale aircraft sealed

India-France Defense Deal: The Defense Acquisition Council chaired by Union Defense Minister Rajnath Singh approved the deal to purchase 114 Rafale fighter jets from France. 3.25 lakh crore rupees will have to be paid for that. The DAC meeting on Thursday approved various acquisition proposals for all the three armed forces. The purchase of six P-8I maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft from the US was also approved at this time.

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French President Emmanuel Macron will visit India from February 17 to 19. The approval has been given a few days before that. Top officials said that out of 114 Rafale fighter jets, 90 will be manufactured indigenously. Up to 50 percent indigenous materials will be used in these aircraft. Earlier there was talk of using 30 percent indigenous materials in aircraft manufactured in India. But, officials said the figure would be increased to around 50 percent in further discussions.

In this financial year 2026-27, the Ministry of Defense has been allocated Rs 7.85 lakh crore, which is 15 percent more than last year. In this first budget after Operation Sindoor, the emphasis is on speeding up defense preparedness and modernizing the armed forces to face any contingencies. The amount allocated to the defense budget is 1.99 percent of the total gross domestic product. Experts say India is investing heavily in the defense sector due to the growing closeness between Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Also read: India-France Rafale Deal: India-France defense deal in decisive phase! Purchase of 114 Rafale to increase strength of Air Force

The maritime power of the Navy will increase

The Defense Acquisition Council also approved the purchase of six P-8I maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft from the US. In November 2019, the Defense Acquisition Council approved the purchase of six P-8I aircraft. The US Department of Defense subsequently approved the sale worth an estimated $2.42 billion in April 2021, but the deal has not been finalized so far. Now the price of the aircraft is expected to increase significantly.