India’s Ministry of Defence said on 12 February that the government’s Defence Acquisition Council had cleared the purchase of 114 Dassault Rafale combat aircraft from Dassault Aviation for 3.25 trillion rupees, or around €30.2 billion.
Safran Aircraft Engines has announced a €70 million project to expand its Le Creusot facility in eastern France, which specialises in machining complex rotating parts.
Croatia has begun policing its own airspace using newly acquired Rafale multirole fighters within NATO’s Integrated Air and Missile Defence framework.
Dassault Aviation has released updated data on the production and sales of its Rafale multirole combat aircraft, which currently represents one of France’s largest aerospace manufacturing programmes.
From 1 January 2026, Croatia’s Rafale multirole fighters will assume responsibility for protecting national airspace within NATO’s Integrated Air and Missile Defence System.
At the air base in the French city of Vélizy-Villacoublay, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Emmanuel Macron signed a Declaration of Intent on defence equipment cooperation.
Several French Rafale fighter jets operated from Ørland Air Base last week as part of a four-day training mission.
So far, 533 Rafale jets have been ordered by France and eight international customers, with 233 still to be delivered.
Dassault Aviation has inaugurated its new production facility in Cergy, northwest of Paris, at a ceremony led by Chairman and CEO Eric Trappier alongside employees.
![French Rafale fighter demonstrates simulated kill on U.S. F-35A during NATO exercise in Finland [VIDEO]](https://defence-industry.eu/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/French-Rafale-fighter-demonstrates-simulated-kill-on-U.S.-F-35A-during-NATO-exercise-in-Finland-VIDEO-300x262.jpg)
A Rafale fighter jet of the French Air and Space Force has been shown locking on to a US F-35A Lightning II and “scoring a kill” during NATO’s multinational Exercise Atlantic Trident 25 in Finland.
India is preparing to advance a government-to-government proposal to acquire 114 additional Rafale fighter jets under its Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) programme,
Indian forces had assumed that the PL-15E could engage targets at a maximum range of approximately 150 kilometres. In reality, the Rafale was reportedly shot down from a distance of around 200 kilometres or more.
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