First Rafale Marine jets by 2029: Navy chief says Op Sindoor kept Pakistan Navy 'near their ports'

The Indian Navy will receive its first four Rafale Marine jets by 2029, Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh Tripathi said on Tuesday, confirming the delivery timeline for the carrier-borne fighters set to operate from INS Vikrant.

"We have signed contracts for 83 capital cases worth around Ra 84,000 crore. We hope to get the first set of four Rafale for the Indian Navy by 2029," the Navy chief said during a press briefing ahead of Navy Day.

Indian Navy Day is celebrated on 4th December.

India and France signed the intergovernmental agreement for 26 Rafale Marine jets in April at a cost of around Rs 64,000 crore, with deliveries scheduled to begin five years after contract signing. The package includes weapons, spares and associated equipment from Dassault Aviation.

On Operation Sindoor, the Navy chief said some details remain restricted. "Operation Sindoor is still ongoing, so much information cannot be put out in the open domain," he said. "During Op Sindoor, the deployment of the carrier battle group aggressively in the Northern Arabian Sea kept Pakistan in their respective locations, and they never ventured out."

According to him, Pakistan faced major economic losses. He said the Navy's posture forced the Pakistan Navy "to remain close to their ports or near Makran coast", and that "for the last seven months we have continued high tempo operations in Northern Arabian Sea."

Admiral Tripathi underlined that the Navy has "maintained relentless operational readiness in IOR (Indian Ocean Region)." The operational year included 50,000 flying hours, 11,000 ship days, and 138 ship deployments. The Admiral said, "Our ships apprehended 52 pirates."

One ship has remained stationed in the Gulf of Aden since 2008, and 138 warships have been deployed and they have escorted 7800 merchant ships safely." The Navy chief added, "40 ships have been deployed on anti-piracy missions."

Search and rescue efforts continued alongside security operations. "We saved 520 lives at sea in the past year," he said. On the Red Sea, the Navy deployed capital assets to secure commercial traffic. "Our 40 capital ships have been deployed to tackle the activities of the non-state actors like Houthis in the Red Sea. We have helped a safe passage of cargo worth around $5.6 billion."

On force expansion, he said, "We have inducted one submarine and 12 warships since last Navy Day. Udaygiri was the 100th warship of the Indian Navy." He reiterated: "First set of Four Rafale Marine will be delivered by 2029."