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Po st e ri ty w il l record that th e Dassault Rafale (French for storm or squall) 4+ generation multi- role combat aircraft actually entered the Indian Air Force's Medium-Multi R ol e Combat A irc ra ft ( M-MRCA) competition consequential to the United States Administration's "clearance" to Boeing to offer its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet to compete for the same. In the process, the French administration tactically withdrew the Mirage 2000-5 Mk2's candidature, which type ha d long remained the frontrunner. It is important to recollect that in the export arena, US-developed combat aircraft h a d e dg e d pas t Fr en c h- ori gi n on e s when ever a di rect comp etiti on took place since in the majority of cases, technical characteristics and abilities of the competing platforms never assumed the deciding factors : the United States inherentl y e n joyed gr eater polit ica l leverage to swing multi-billion dollar deals in their favour. However, in the IAF's M-MRCA competition, and to the immense satisfaction (and surprise ?) of the French administration and of Dassault, their aviation ace, the Rafale, not only "broke the jinx" but secured a much desired voluminous "jackpot", of at least 126 fighters, possibly 189, arguably the 21st century 'mother of all deals'.
As had happened with the Mirage 2000, the Indian Air Force could well be the second air arm in the world to operate top-of-the-line French combat aircraft. On 27 June 2006, Escadron de Chasse 1/ 7 'Provence' at Saint-Dizier became the first French Air Force squadron to operate the Dassault Rafale omni-role fighter, which through constant upgradations, promises to reach a 'near fifth-generation' status (alongside the IAF's Russian- origin Sukhoi Su-30MKI). This would be after progressive developments to robustly compete with emerging fifth- generation designs during the first decades of the present century. However, it is also ultimately the French political 'reliability' particularly as concerns Indo-French cooperation in the nuclear arena, that may have been the deciding factor for the Rafale. Recent events includes emergence of an IAF manned airborne nuclear deterrent in shape of suitably modified Mirage 2000H/TH platforms, and refusal of the French administration to impose sanctions upon India after the...