The first batch of five Rafale jets on Monday took off from France for India, nearly four years after New Delhi inked an inter¬governmental agreement with Paris to procure 36 of the multi-role fighter aircraft under a Rs 59,000-crore deal.
“You can call them (Rafale) both beauty and the beast,” said Indian Ambassador to France Jawed Ashraf who interacted with the IAF pilots at the Merignac airbase before they set off for India.
The aircraft flew out from the airbase in the French port city of Bordeaux and will cover a distance of nearly 7,000 km with air-to-air refuelling and a single stop in the United Arab Emirates before arriving at Ambala airbase on Wednesday, officials said.
Five Rafale jets on Monday took off from France for India
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