No Rafale fighter for B'luru Aero India Show: IAF Official

• Dassault to fly some other Rafale at the Aero India show in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: “Rafale for India will not be ready by February. We expect Dassault to fly some other Rafale at the Aero India show in Bengaluru on February 20-24, 2019,” said Deputy Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal R.K. Singh Bhadauria at a press conference in Bengaluru.

The 12th edition of the 5-day biennial air show will be held at IAF’s Yelahanka base on the city’s northern outskirts as before.

Instead of the Defence Exhibition Organisation which has been hosting the event over years, the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will play a major role in organising the air show this time, said Mr Bhadauria

Responding to a question on who would flag off the mega show, Mr Bhadauria said that the PM Narendra Modi might inaugurate the show but the final call will be up to the Ministry of Defence.

Dassault Aviation, the French aerospace major is expected to deliver 36 Rafales multi-role medium combat aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF) in fly-away condition from September 2019 onwards.

The advanced fourth generation fighter Rafale will partly replace the ageing Russian-built MiG-21 jets the IAF is phasing out due to their obsolescence.