Dassault Rafale EH

The Rafale EH is the single-seat version of the Rafale built for the Indian Air Force (IAF). The designation follows Dassault's export convention: "E" denotes a single-seat export aircraft and "H" stands for Hindustan; its two-seat partner is the Rafale DH. Of the 36 aircraft India bought in 2016, 28 are single-seat EHs and eight are two-seat DHs, so the EH makes up most of India's first Rafale fleet, but not all of it.

Its origins lie in the MMRCA competition, in which India sought 126 multirole fighters. The Rafale was one of six contenders; in February 2011 French aircraft flew demonstrations in the country, including air-to-air combat against Su-30MKIs, and in April 2011 the IAF shortlisted the Rafale and the Eurofighter Typhoon. On 31 January 2012 the Rafale was announced as the preferred bidder: 18 aircraft would be delivered in fly-away condition and the remaining 108 would be built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) under transfer of technology. Negotiations stalled over responsibility for local production, and in April 2015, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Paris, India requested the swift delivery of 36 Rafales in fly-away condition. The MMRCA tender was withdrawn on 30 July 2015.

The government-to-government contract was signed on 23 September 2016 by defence ministers Manohar Parrikar and Jean-Yves Le Drian. According to French Wikipedia, this first batch was worth €7.878 billion, of which €3.42 billion covered the 36 aircraft; the unit price of the single-seater was €91 million (€94.3 million for the two-seater), with further items for weapons, India-specific equipment adaptations, other programme suppliers and logistics. Dassault committed to a 75% availability rate during the first five years of service. The deal included spares and weapons such as the Meteor missile, and it sparked a heated political controversy in India over the choice of Reliance Defence rather than HAL as industrial partner; the Supreme Court dismissed all petitions for an inquiry on 14 December 2018.

The Indian version is based on the F3-R standard and, according to the same source, adds a set of adaptations: compatibility with the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), an improved weather mode for the RBE2 AESA radar, an improved on-board oxygen generating system (OBOGS), a traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS), a terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS), engines adapted to high-altitude bases, the Rafaut AT-730 triple ejector and multiple ejector racks (MER) for light munitions, Rafael's X-Guard towed decoy, an India-specific update of the SPECTRA electronic warfare database, Elbit's TARGO-II helmet and the Litening G4 targeting pod. The weapons attributed to it include the Meteor, the SPICE 1000, the ALARM anti-radiation missile, India's Astra air-to-air missile and high-speed low-drag bombs.

The IAF accepted its first Rafale at Dassault's Bordeaux facility ahead of the formal handover on 8 October 2019; it carried the tail number RB-001 in honour of the Air Chief Marshal-designate, R. K. S. Bhadauria. No. 17 Squadron "Golden Arrows", number-plated in 2016, was resurrected at Ambala in September 2019 with the Rafale. The first five aircraft reached Ambala Air Force Station on 29 July 2020, and in September 2020 the formal induction into the IAF was held there in the presence of Rajnath Singh and French minister Florence Parly. On 23 April 2021 the Indian Ministry of Defence announced that No. 17 Squadron had its full complement of 18 Rafales. The second unit, No. 101 Squadron "Falcons", was reinstated in June 2021 and has been based at Hasimara, West Bengal, since 28 July 2021. Deliveries of all 36 aircraft were completed in 2022, although sources disagree on the exact date of the last one.

In service, Indian Rafales took part in Red Flag – Alaska in June 2024 and, on the way home, in exercises with Greek and Egyptian aircraft; that year the Hasimara aircraft trained to shoot down targets mimicking spy balloons at around 17 km altitude. On the night of 6–7 May 2025, during Operation Sindoor, the IAF used Rafales armed with SCALP missiles and AASM Hammer glide bombs against targets in Pakistan. Pakistan claimed to have shot down several Rafales; various media and the French Air Force chief maintained that at least one was lost, while India has not confirmed any Rafale losses. An agreement signed in 2025 provides for upgrading India's 36-aircraft fleet, including buddy refuelling for ten of them and 40 long-range drop tanks.