The Rafale fighter jets, which landed in India on July 29, will be inducted into the Indian Air Force on Thursday. The aircraft is capable of carrying a range of potent weapons and can fire meteor missiles to take out targets that are out of visual range. The first batch of five aircraft landed in Haryana’s Ambala.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will formally induct the aircraft. French defence Florence Parly will also attend the ceremony.

The ceremony will take place at Ambala airbase, where Parly and Singh are going to hold talks on ways to further deepen bilateral defence and security cooperation between the two nations, reported PTI. 

India has signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 Rafale jets at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore. The jets have been produced by French aerospace major, Dassault Aviation.

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So far, ten Rafale jets have been delivered to India, and five of them stayed back in France for imparting training to IAF pilots. The delivery of all 36 aircraft is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2021. A second batch of four to five Rafale jets is likely to arrive in India by November.