Air chief Marshal B S Dhanoa on Monday said the country would get the French fighter jet Rafale by September.

“Rafale jet fighter should come into India’s inventory by September,” the Indian Air Force chief said a press conference.

India has ordered 36 Rafale fighter planes from Dassault Aviation of France as part of the IAF’s modernization drive.

On Saturday, in the background of last week’s IAF air raid in Pakistan and a dog fight in which an IAF MiG 21 was downed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country was feeling the absence of Rafale and results would have been different if India had the fighter jets as he attacked the Congress for its tirade against his government over the aircraft deal.

In January, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman had informed Parliament that under the Rafale deal finalised by the NDA government, the delivery of first Rafale aircraft will take place in 2019, while the last of the 36 jets will be delivered in 2022.

First Published: Mar 04, 2019 13:15 IST