New Delhi: When India signed the much-talked about Rafale fighter jet deal with France in 2016, it was pitched as the ultimate answer to Pakistan’s F-16s armed with AIM (Air Intercept Missile)-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile) missiles. The government claimed these 36 flyaway jets, though fewer than the 126 originally planned, were more advanced, lethal and ready for any confrontation in the subcontinent’s skies. But buried beneath that promise was a critical omission: the Rafales arrived without their most powerful weapon, the Meteor air-to-air missile.
The Meteor, a European beyond-visual-range missile built by the Matra BAE Dynamics Alenia (MBDA), top missile producing companies in the world, can strike targets nearly 200 kilometres away. It is what gives the Rafale its edge in air superiority. Without it, the jets lose the very advantage that justified their price tag and urgency.
Now, nearly a decade later, the government is scrambling to fix that oversight. According to defence officials, cited by ANI, a proposal worth around Rs 1,500 crore for acquiring a fresh batch of Meteor missiles is at an advanced stage and awaiting final clearance from the Ministry of Defence. Officials say the move aims to “boost aerial combat capabilities” of the Indian Air Force’s Rafale fleet, a telling admission that the aircraft have operated for years without their intended primary weapon.
Experts and veterans are calling this not just an operational lapse, but a staggering failure of planning and accountability. Some described it as “a dereliction of duty”, a mistake that, in military terms, could amount to a court-martial-level offence.
When the deal was struck, officials had justified the reduction from 126 to 36 aircraft by claiming these select few would be the “best of the best”. But without Meteors, that promise rings hollow. “If we had a working Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG),” one senior retired officer said, “the report would be more scathing than anything written during the Congress-led UPA (United Progressive Alliance) years”.
The entire rationale for buying the Rafale was built on countering Pakistan’s AMRAAM-equipped F-16s. Without the Meteor missile, India essentially deployed its most advanced fighter without the very weapon that made it superior. Some defence analysts allege that it borders on corruption, as the purchase ignored the system that was central to the Rafale’s combat capabilities.
The Indian Air Force’s Rafales were finally tested earlier this year during Operation Sindoor, when India struck Pakistani military and terrorist positions with precision long-range standoff weapons.
Pakistan retaliated with Chinese-origin PL-15 missiles, a barrage that ultimately failed to hit Indian aircraft. Still, the episode served as a reminder of what India lacked: a long-range air-to-air weapon that could neutralise enemy fighters before they came close.
The Meteor is now being reintroduced into India’s air strategy, not as an upgrade but as a long-delayed correction. The IAF plans to arm the Rafales with these missiles once procurement clears its final approval.
Meanwhile, a parallel effort is underway to strengthen indigenous capabilities. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is developing around 700 Astra Mark 2 missiles, which are designed to hit targets beyond 200 kilometres, for integration with India’s Su-30 and LCA Tejas fleets.
As for the Rafales, the Meteor will finally complete what was promised nearly 10 years ago – a jet that can truly dominate regional airspace. But the delay has already raised uncomfortable questions: how did India’s most celebrated defence purchase take off without its defining weapon; who signed off on an acquisition that stripped the Rafale of its key advantage; And why did it take nearly a decade and a war scare for the system to be added back?
For a deal once touted as a triumph of national security, the Meteor gap has exposed something else entirely, a void of oversight, accountability and foresight at the highest levels of India’s defence establishment.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: ZEE News
