Exclusive: Defence Secretary Defends $34 Billion 114-Rafale Deal, Says Tejas On Track

India's continued interest in the French-designed Rafale fighter does not come at the cost of the development of the indigenous Tejas Mk-1A and Mk2 fighter jets.

Asked why India would continue acquiring the Rafale into the mid-2030s when the home-grown Tejas Mk-2 would likely be available then, India's Defence Secretary, RK Singh, said, "I think [the] Rafale is a proven aircraft. We have already got in-out inventory. It did well in Operation Sindoor. We also have the Naval version on order right now. So we have a good relationship with the French as well. They have agreed to our mandate that they will make it [the Rafale fighter] in India with significant levels of indigenisation."

Singh was speaking at the NDTV Defence Conclave 2026.

The IAF's focus on the Rafale comes at a time of depleting squadron strength, with a host of legacy jets such as the MiG-21 being retired. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), which has been contracted to supply the Tejas Mk-1A and Tejas Mk-2 to meet immediate IAF needs, has consistently failed to meet time and delivery benchmarks in the projects. The first delivery of the Tejas Mk-1A was expected in February 2024 while the prototype for the larger and more advanced Tejas Mk-2 was first expected to roll out in August 2022. At the moment, the Tejas Mk-1A has still not entered squadron service while the Tejas Mk-2 prototype has not even been rolled out, let alone being flight-tested.

The IAF's focus on the Rafale comes at a time of depleting squadron strength, with a host of legacy jets such as the MiG-21 being retired.

India is presently involved in negotiations with the French government for 114 more Rafale fighters under its Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) deal worth about Rs 3.25 lakh crore ($34-39 billion). If agreed upon, this will likely be India's costliest defence deal.

Dassault submitted a formal proposal on August 6, 2026 which is now being examined by the Defence Ministry. 18 fighters are likely to come in a fly-away condition from France and 96 would be built in India, though details of this are still being finalised.

''It enables us to create a second production line for fighter aircraft in the country,'' said Singh. ''Because of all those reasons, we are going through with it even as we continue with the indigenous program.'' The Indian-designed Tejas Mk-1A fighter, expected to begin entering IAF squadron service this year will follow a ''spiral development kind of a model'' where the government hopes incremental capabilities, including the more powerful, made-in-India Uttam air-search radar is integrated with the fighter. ''Indigenous radars, incidentally, are very powerful [and] better than the global peers,'' said Singh. 

India is presently developing the Uttam radar for the Tejas fighter and the Virupaksha radar for the Sukhoi-30MKI fighter which is expected to be upgraded.

Negotiations for additional Rafale platforms also involve discussions on the integration of Indian designed weapons on the French-designed fighter. According to reports, France has reportedly refused to share source codes for the radar, mission computer, and SPECTRA electronic-warfare suite, which would limit India's ability to integrate its own weapons, such as the Astra missile. Without delving into specifics, French diplomatic sources told NDTV in July that the new deal process is different from the earlier one (where the IAF had acquired 36 fighters) and that intense negotiations continue to be underway.

India signed an intergovernmental agreement with France on September 23, 2016 for 36 Rafale jets for the Air Force, worth about Rs 59,000 crore ($7.87 billion). The first five arrived on July 29, 2020. For the Navy, India signed a deal on April 28, 2025 for 26 Rafale-Marine jets (22 single-seat, 4 twin-seat trainers), worth about Rs 63,000 crore. The package includes weapons, simulators, training, logistics support and maintenance facilities in India. Deliveries are due to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2030-31. The jets will fly from INS Vikrant, making India the first foreign operator of the naval Rafale.

The proposed acquisition of the 114 Rafale fighter jets would help the Indian Air Force address its current shortage of fighter squadrons,  Singh said, while adding that the Rafale deal would proceed alongside India's indigenous fighter aircraft programme. Responding to questions over whether Rafale would still be necessary given the development of the Tejas Mk2, Singh said the French fighter was a proven platform already operated by India.

"Rafale is a proven aircraft. We have already got it in our inventory. It did well in Op Sindoor. We have also got the naval version on order right now. So we have a good relationship with the French as well. And they have agreed to our mandate that they make it in India. They make it with significant levels of indigenisation. And of course, it enables us to create a second production line for fighter aircraft in the country," he said. 

The government, he added, would continue developing the LCA Mark 1A through a "spiral development" model, with increasingly advanced indigenous radars and weapons.

"Because of all those reasons, we are going through with it even as we continue with the indigenous program - the LCA Mark1A program. It will be a spiral development kind of a model where we hopefully increasingly perfect it, make it a better fit in indigenous radars, which incidentally are very powerful -- better than global peers in indigenous weapons and it will become an increasingly potent platform, but in the meantime, we will do this deal as well. That is my sort of immediate way of filling up this gap that you mentioned. Of course, along with that, there is a lot of other stuff happening in terms of unmanned aircraft et. which we can discuss subsequently," Singh said.