The Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) with France for 36 Rafales was arrived at to meet the critical requirement of the Air Force (IAF) and was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).
In September 2016, India and France signed the €7.87-billion agreement for the aircraft, spares, weapons, 10 years of annual maintenance and associated equipment.
The much awaited Rafale fighter aircraft will be a major boost to India's firepower as the fighters will come fitted with Meteor and Mica missiles from Europe.
The range of meteor and mica missile is exceptionally long at 100 kilometers.
These missiles will give immense advantage to Rafale fighter aircraft as these are 'beyond visual range' weapons.