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| Rafale Fighter, former MMRCA winner of the Indian AirForce |
After the J-20, set to be China's first fifth-generation stealth fighter, begins service with frontline units, the People's Liberation Army Air Force will be undefeatable by the Indian Air Force in any future aerial warfare between the two nations according to the Sina Military Network based in Beijing.
In order to up their game against this potential future threat, India originally planned to purchase 126 Dassault Rafale fighters from France, through its Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft program. However, the Indian government withdrew the program on July 30 this year. Instead, New Delhi tried to reach a new contract with Paris to purchase only 36 Rafales. However, the contract was not finalized as of the end of July.
One third of the Indian Air Force's fighters currently in service are still obsolete Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 supersonic interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft introduced from the former Soviet Union during the Cold War. The Indian Air Force plans to decommission all of its MiG-21 fighters before the end of this year. However, it is not having much progress in finding advanced combat aircraft to replace them. It has purchased a total of 272 Su-30MKI fighter from Russia. Among them, 220 have been delivered.
Read the full story at Want China Times