India, France sign $8.8B deal for Rafale fighter jets

India expected to receive first ready-to-fly Rafales by 2019, and all 36 within 5-and-a-half years

PARIS (AA) - After years of negotiations, India Friday signed a 7.8 billion euro ($8.8 billion) deal with France to buy 36 high-tech Rafale fighter jets.

The deal was signed by French Defense Minister Jean Yves Le Drian and Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar in New Delhi, according to an Elysee statement.

“The agreement, signed today in New Delhi… marks the acknowledgment by a great military and strategic power of the operational performance, technological quality, and competitiveness of the French aviation industry,” French President Francois Hollande hailed the deal in statement.

The delivery to India of the ready-to-fly jets will begin in three years and will be completed in five-and-a-half years from the date the contract is inked.

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