 The Dassault Rafale is a French twin-engine, multirole designed and built by .

 Equipped with a wide range of weapons, the Rafale is intended to perform , interdiction, , ground support, in-depth strike, anti-ship strike and nuclear deterrence missions. The Rafale is referred to as an "omnirole" aircraft by Dassault.

 In the late 1970s, the French Air Force and Navy were seeking to replace and consolidate their current fleets of aircraft. In order to reduce development costs and boost prospective sales, entered into an arrangement with UK, Germany, Italy and Spain to produce an agile multi-purpose fighter, the .  The Rafale has been marketed for export to several countries, and was selected for purchase by the , the , and the Air Force. The Rafale has been used in combat over Afghanistan, Libya, Mali, and Syria.

 Rafale in

 The Rafale was one of the six aircraft competing in the Indian MRCA competition for 126 multirole fighters

 In February 2011, French Rafales flew demonstrations in India, including air-to-air combat against Su-30MKIs.

 In April 2011, the Indian Air Force (IAF) shortlisted the Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon for the US$10.4 billion contract.

 On 31 January 2012, the IAF announced the Rafale as the preferred bidder.

 It was proposed that 18 Rafales would be supplied to the IAF by 2015 in fly-away condition, while the remaining 108 would be manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in India under transfer of technology agreements.

 The contract for 126 Rafales, services, and parts may have been worth up to US$20 billion.  Previous India deal ---

 In May 2013, The Times of India reported that negotiations were "back on track", with plans for the first 18 Rafales to be delivered in 2017.

 Another point of contention was a provision where Dassault was to reinvest 50 percent of the deal's earnings into India's defence sectors, either through purchases or technological expertise.

 In March 2014, the two sides were reported to have agreed that the first 18 aircraft would be delivered to India in flying condition and that the remaining 108 would be 70 percent built by HAL.

 In December 2014, it was reported that India and France expect to sign a contract by March 2015  New deal

 In April 2015, during Prime Minister 's visit to Paris, India requested the rapid delivery of 36 Rafales in fly-away condition.

 On 23 September 2016, Indian Defence Minister and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian signed the contract for the purchase of 36 off-the- shelf Rafales in a deal worth €7.8 billion with an option for 18 more at the same inflation-adjusted price.

 The first Rafales are expected to be delivered by 2019, and India is set to have all 36 jets within six years.

 The deal includes weapons and spares; the aircraft will be equipped with BVRAAM missiles.

 India is considering ordering 36 more aircraft as of August 2017 due to growing tensions with China.  Performance

 Maximum speed: ** High altitude: Mach 1.8 (1,912 km/h; 1,032 knots)

 Low altitude: Mach 1.1 (1,390 km/h; 750 knots)

 Range: >3,700 km (>2,000 nmi) with 3 drop tanks

 Combat radius: >1,852 km (>1,000 nmi) on penetration mission with two CFTs (2,300 L), three tanks (5,700 L), two SCALP-EG and two MICA AAMs.

 Service ceiling: 15,235 m (50,000 ft)

 Rate of climb: >304.8 m/s (>60,000 ft/min)

 Wing loading: 328 kg/m2 (67.1 lb/ft2)  What happened recently

 During the sortie, the Defence Minister sat in the rear cockpit while a French pilot flew the customised aircraft with tail number RB-01. RB stands for the newly appointed IAF chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhaduria, in recognition of his role in striking the Rafale deal in 2016.

 All 36 jets will arrive by April 2022, with 18 each to be deployed at and Hasimara for the western and eastern front

 COMPARED to SU30MKI fighter jets in the IAF, Rafale fares much higher

LOITERING CAPABILITY: 1.5 times of Su30MKI

RANGE: 780-1055 km vs 400-550 of Su30MKI