Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, recently cleared a long-pending proposal to procure 114 Rafale fighter jets. The proposal was cleared nearly two decades after the plan was originally rolled out to enhance the combat capabilities of the Indian Air Force.
For more defence news, views and updates, visit: Fortress India
The move comes at a time when the number of the Indian Air Force's fighter squadrons has gone down to 31 from the officially sanctioned strength of 42.
Under the Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) project, 18 fighte jets will be supplied by Dassault Aviation in fly away condition and the rest will be manufactured in India. These jets are expected to have over 50 per cent indigenous content.
ALSO READ: Is HAL out of India's fifth-generation fighter jet race? Company clarifies its position on AMCA
While the details of who will partner with Dassault Aviation to manufacture the jets in India has not yet been revealed, state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has come out with a clarification.
The clarification comes in the wake of a report that claimed that HAL could be collaborating with Dassault Aviation to make the figter jets in India.
In a stock exchanges filing, HAL said, "With reference to the news item which appeared in “Media / Publication in the 'Times of India' dated 13th February, 2026 captioned "Defence Council clears procurement of 114 Rafales; mega contract set to become ‘mother of all defence deals” wherein it is mentioned that about 20 of the multi-role fighters will be bought in fly-away condition and are expected to be added to the IAF fleet by 2030. With respect to the said article, we would like to clarify that Company did not receive any such official communication from Ministry of Defence or Dassault in this regard."