India and France on Monday signed a deal for 26 Rafale Marine aircraft. Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh signed the agreement on behalf of India. Under the deal, India will buy 22 single-seater aircraft and 4 double-seater aircraft from France. Before Rafale Marines, India had also bought 36 Rafale jets for the Air Force from France. All the aircraft in this deal, which was signed in 2016, reached India in 2022. These aircraft are operated from the Ambala and Hashinara airbases of the Air Force. This deal was done for Rs 58,000 crore. The features of the Rafale Marine aircraft are more advanced than the Rafale aircraft of the Air Force. These aircraft will be equipped with the ability to fire nuclear bombs. According to reports, this deal has been done with France for Rs 63,000 crore. This is India’s biggest deal with France so far in terms of arms purchases. The purchase of the aircraft was approved in the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 23. This meeting was called after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam. India will deploy Rafale Marine aircraft on INS Vikrant. Aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation has made many modifications to these aircraft according to India’s requirements. These include features like anti-ship strike, nuclear weapons launch capability and flight recording for 10 hours. Apart from this, the company will also provide India with weapon systems, spare parts and necessary equipment for the aircraft. According to reports, the delivery of these aircraft will start in 2028-29 and all the aircraft will reach India by 2031-32.