Confirmed: India to Buy Only 36 Rafale Fighter Jets

Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar confirmed on Sunday that India will only purchase 36 instead of 126 Rafale fighter jets from France, an announcement that appears to finally bury the much hyped “mother of all defense deals” for good.

The 126 Rafale aircraft are “way too expensive” and “economically unviable and not required,” the defense minister told local press over the weekend. Purchasing the fighters would have been “a very steep slope to climb financially (…) we are not buying the rest. We are only buying the … 36,” Parrikar added.

Yet India could still purchase an additional 20 Rafale jets at a later stage, local media speculated recently.

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