Why it is in news?

• French Defence Minister Florance Parley will be in New Delhi on an official visit during which she is likely to make a strong pitch to sell additional Rafale fighter jets. 

RAFALE

• In September last year, India and France concluded a €7.87-billion government-to-government deal for 36 Rafale jets in flyaway condition scheduled to be delivered between 2019 and 2022.
• The deal has a 50% offset clause to be executed by Dassault and its partners in India amounting up to ₹30,000 crore.
• Following this, Dassault Aviation and Reliance Defence announced a joint venture called “Dassault Reliance Aerospace”, which is likely to execute a major part of the offsets.

Single-engine jet

• The Indian Air Force has stated its requirement for additional twin-engine fighter jets and has expressed its desire for more Rafale jets.
• However, with a depleting fighter strength and several squadrons of MiG-21s and MiG-27s to be phased out, the focus is now on procuring a single-engine fighter jet under the newly promulgated Strategic Partnership model.
• The IAF is operating 32 fighter squadrons against the sanctioned strength of 42, which is set to drop further in the coming years.