Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 15: As the Indian Air Force on Thursday received the last of the 36 Rafale fighter jets to “complete the pack,” its Eastern Air Command conducted an exercise to train its crew in the north-eastern region unconnected with the recent clash between the Indian and Chinese troops at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh.
“This exercise was planned well in advance of the recent developments in Tawang and is not associated with these events,” the IAF said. It also shared an update on Twitter on receiving the last of the 36 Rafale jets. Rafale jets. “Feet dry! ‘The Pack is Complete,” the tweet said. The last of the 36 IAF Rafales landed in India after a quick enroute sip from a UAE Air Force tanker. (sic),” the IAF tweet read, along with the picture of an aircraft.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) had to scramble its fighter jets in the region two or three times in the past few weeks in Arunachal Pradesh. The scramble came after detecting Chinese aircraft close to the Line of Actual Control, a contested border between the two countries, sources have said.
The IAF has also been maintaining combat air patrols in the region over the last few days to keep an eye on the movement of the Chinese air force. The force has, however, said the training exercises on Thursday and Friday in the east are not connected to the border clashes with China.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told the parliament earlier this week that Indian troops prevented Chinese soldiers from entering Indian territory on December 9 during the latest clash — using sticks and other weapons, but no guns — that led to injuries on both sides. China claims Indian troops illegally crossed the de-facto border to block a routine patrol by Chinese troops.
The latest incident in Tawang was the first reported clash between the two countries since the one in Galwan, a valley in Ladakh region, in 2020, when 20 Indian and some Chinese soldiers were killed. A day after the government confirmed the clash, a video of a previous skirmish emerged too, which was shared with a false message that this was the latest Tawang clash. The undemarcated border between India and China runs 3488 kms in all and has 25 points of dispute. One of these is Yangtse, which has been repeatedly targeted by the Chinese.
The first batch of five Rafale jets had arrived at the Air Force Station in Ambala in July 2020. These were meant to be a part of the 17 Squadron, the “Golden Arrows”, which was resurrected a year before, a government statement had said at the time. These were formally inducted the next month by the IAF. The Rafale deal – worth around 9 billion dollars – was sealed with a view to add new jets to the IAF fleet.
In February, India received three of the last four fighter planes. The jets – fully equipped with India-specific requirements – were handed over by France at Istres-Le Tube air base of Rafale manufacturer Dassault Aviation, situated north-west of Marseille.
Among the India-specific enhancements in the jets are included helmet-mounted sight, radar warning receivers, flight data recorders with enough storage for 10 hours, infra-red search and track systems, and towed decoys to lure incoming missiles away and missile approach warning system. The cost of each jet was estimated to be around ₹670 crore.