India has approved a $2.4-billion deal for French defence groups to upgrade 51 ageing Mirage fighter jets, officials said Thursday, as the country takes further steps to boost its military capacity. The long-delayed deal is part of a major modernisation programme being undertaken by India, which has become the biggest importer of military hardware among emerging nations as it enjoys rapid economic development.
"The defence secretary has agreed to the proposal put forward by French defence majors Dassault and Thales and (European group) MBDA for the Mirage-2000 retrofit," a source in the Indian Air Force (IAF) told AFP. The upgrade of the French-built Mirage jets is expected to include advanced navigation systems, mission computers, electronic warfare systems and radar.
The process is likely to take nine years and will see two of the jets being re-fitted in France, said the source who declined to be named. Other aircraft will be upgraded at the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics base in Bangalore. No confirmation of the deal was released by the Indian government, but a defence ministry official told AFP that the decision was cleared by the cabinet committee on security on Wednesday.
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