India’s biggest-ever fighter jet purchase — 26 Rafale Marine combat aircraft for the Navy — has been approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Wednesday, as per government sources. The deal is worth over ₹63,000 crore and will be done through a government-to-government agreement with France. An official announcement from the Ministry of Defence is still awaited.

The deal includes 22 single-seat and 4 twin-seat Rafale Marine fighter jets. These jets will be used on INS Vikrant, India’s first home-built aircraft carrier, and will work alongside the Navy’s current MiG-29K jets, which are originally from Russia. The Indian Air Force (IAF) already has 36 Rafale jets in service. “The Air Force single-seat Rafale C, the Air Force two-seat Rafale B, and the Navy single-seat Rafale M feature maximum airframe and equipment commonality, and very similar mission capabilities,” says Dassault Aviation, the aircraft's manufacturer. The Rafale M jets are likely to be delivered about five years after the agreement is signed. The deal is expected to come with a complete package that includes fleet maintenance, logistical support, training for personnel, and locally made parts as part of the offset obligations.

Just like its Indian Air Force version, the Rafale M is also called an "omnirole aircraft" by Dassault. This means it can carry out air-to-air and air-to-ground missions at the same time. However, the Rafale M is specially built to take off from and land on aircraft carriers. To make this possible, it has been modified with a stronger undercarriage and tougher landing gear. France uses the Rafale M fighter jet on its only aircraft carrier, the nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle. This carrier has a CATOBAR system, which stands for catapult-assisted take-off and barrier-arrested recovery. In simple terms, the system uses catapults to help launch aircraft into the air and special wires to catch them when they land.

The Indian Navy currently has two aircraft carriers — INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant — both of which are powered by conventional means and use ski-jump ramps to help aircraft take off. The Rafale M fighter jet has proven it can take off using a ski-jump ramp during trials at the shore-based test facility (SBTF) at INS Hansa in Goa. After thorough testing at this facility, the Indian Navy chose the Rafale M for its operations.