Rafale fighter jet body to be made in India: Tata Group’s agreement with Dassault Aviation; will be made outside France for the first time

The main body of the Rafale fighter jet will now be made in Hyderabad. It is called the fuselage. India’s Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) has signed four production transfer agreements with French company Dassault Aviation for this.

Rafale’s first fuselage unit will come off the assembly line in 2028. The manufacturing plant being built in Hyderabad is expected to produce two complete main bodies every month. This partnership between Tata and Dassault will increase the participation of private companies in India’s defense sector.

Dassault said that this project is a major step in defense cooperation between India and France. This will increase the ability to manufacture defense equipment in India and local engineers will get an opportunity to learn world-class technology. This will be the first time that the main body of Rafale will be made outside France.

Tata already manufactures parts of Rafale

Tata Group already manufactures parts of aircraft like Rafale and Mirage 2000 in collaboration with Dassault. Tata Advanced Systems CEO Sukaran Singh said, “This partnership is a big step in India’s aircraft manufacturing journey.

Manufacturing the entire main body of Rafale in India shows how much trust is growing in the capabilities of Tata Advanced Systems and how strong our relationship with Dassault Aviation is.

This is also proof that India has made tremendous progress in creating a modern and robust aerospace manufacturing system that can support the world’s largest platforms.”