New Delhi: The deal with France to procure more Rafale fighter jets will help India establish a second fighter aircraft production line while also supporting greater indigenisation of defence manufacturing, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said on Sunday.
Addressing the Strategy to Capability: Building India’s Defence Edge fireside chat at the NDTV Defence Summit 2026, the top Defence Ministry official discussed India’s evolving defence capabilities, including the country’s fighter aircraft requirements, indigenous development and efforts to strengthen domestic defence manufacturing.
“Rafale is a proven aircraft. France has agreed to our mandate that they make it in India with significant levels of indigenisation. It enables us to create a second production line for fighter aircraft in the country, which is why we are going through with it,” Rajesh Kumar Singh, who also holds the additional charge of Secretary, DDR&D, and DRDO Chairman, said.
He also said that the procurement of additional Rafale aircraft will not come at the expense of India’s indigenous Tejas fighter jet programme being led by public sector aerospace major HAL.
“Even as we continue with the Rafale deal, the indigenous LCA Tejas Mark 1A programme will continue. It will be a spiral development model where we increasingly perfect it, fitting in indigenous radars that are better than global peers alongside indigenous weapons,” he stressed.
Rajesh Kumar Singh also highlighted that significant progress was being made in addressing key capability gaps in the Indian Air Force, particularly those linked to the fighter fleet and force multipliers.
“When I first came to the ministry, the Air Force had three major concerns: the depleting size of the fighter fleet and multipliers like AEW&C aircraft and refuelers. All three gaps are on the way to being filled. It won’t happen overnight, but once contracts are signed, delivery expectations are locked in,” he said.
The remarks come against the backdrop of the government stepping up measures to strengthen the country’s defence capabilities while expanding indigenous production and technology development of military hardware.
The NDTV Defence Summit 2026, themed ‘India’s New Defence Edge’, brings together senior defence officials, military officers and industry leaders to discuss India’s changing defence requirements and the technologies shaping future warfare.
(IANS)
