As claims and counterclaims over the financial terms of India’s deal to buy 36 Rafale fighter aircrafts from France continue relentlessly, the Indian Airforce (IAF) continues to be in desperate need of new fighter jets. The asymmetric inequalities between the IAF and the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) are set to widen.

For the IAF to attain the combat capability to counter and fight any future war or conflict vis-à-vis the PLAAF, the acquisition of aircrafts like the Rafale will be crucial to expanding its air combat capability.