Paris, January 14, 2026: India and France are poised to finalize a landmark defense deal, under which India will acquire 114 Rafale fighter jets, in a deal valued at over $36 billion. The agreement is expected to be signed in February during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to India for the AI Impact Summit.
According to French defense media, India will purchase the most advanced Rafale variants, with 90 new F4 jets to be delivered in the short to medium term, while 36 existing Rafales in the Indian Air Force fleet will be upgraded to the F4 standard. This upgrade mirrors enhancements being made for the French Air Force and Navy.
The second phase of the contract will include 24 Rafale F5 jets, which will be manufactured entirely in France by Dassault Aviation. Discussions are ongoing about whether newly delivered F4 jets—or older F3 jets upgraded to F4—can later be converted to the F5 standard, leaving some technical details unresolved.
Economic Impact:
The $36 billion deal—equivalent to approximately ₹3.25 lakh crore—is so significant that French media report it could raise France’s GDP by several percentage points. The agreement also underscores the Indian Air Force’s growing confidence in the Rafale platform, which has been effectively deployed in operations along the Pakistan border. Defense analysts say this deal will strengthen bilateral ties and silence critics of the Rafale program.
With local production under Make in India for the F4 jets, the deal is also expected to benefit India’s domestic defense manufacturing ecosystem, while the F5 jets will remain a wholly French-manufactured component of the contract.
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