India plans to buy the Rafale Marine Jet. What is the Rafale Marine Jet?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Paris commenced on July 13. An important meeting was held between the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) with regard to the purchase of 26 Rafale Marine fighter jets for the Navy, with three Scorpene submarines for the force.

The Defence Acquisition Council, headed by defense minister Rajnath Singh approved the proposition and an announcement regarding the procurement of the Rafale M aircraft during the visit of the Prime Minister's visit to Paris is expected.

The Rafale Jets

The Rafale Jets are different from the regular marine fighters. The Rafale Marine fighters are actually the naval variant of the Rafale Fighter Jets. The Rafales are manufactured by France Dassault Aviation. They contain twin engines and the latest weapon systems. They also contain the Meteor-beyond visual range air-to-air missiles. These are fitted with advanced sensors and radars to track targets. Moreover, the jets are capable of carrying exceptionally high payloads.

Not to miss, the jets are provided with a few India-specific enhancements and are able to carry out a wide array of missions. The Marine version of the jets, however, will be different in some ways. They will be operating from aircraft carriers on the sea.

There are plenty of differences between the two, including a longer airframe for the purpose of landing on carriers, foldable wings, a tail hook for arrested landing on a carrier, and more. According to Safran, a French firm, the main landing gears and the nose on the navy version of the jet have been strengthened to meet the challenging aircraft carriers landing.

The Rafale M nose gear carries the "jump strut technology" in the shock absorber to provide the aircraft with an attacking angle at the time of catapulting.

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