Will the Indian Navy say ‘Namaste’ to the Dassault Rafale? Recent news reports seem to suggest that the Indian Navy has pulled back from the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft programme and has instead begun weighing various other internationally available options to operate from the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya and the yet to be commissioned Vikrant (IAC-1) being built at Kochi. The Indian Navy inducted the MiG 29K in May 2013 and operates two squadrons for an ultimate total of 45 aircraft. Considering the fact that the Navy purchased a total of 29 Sea Harrier aircraft (23 fighters and 06 trainers) in the 1980s-2000s, the apparent decision to beef up its maritime capabilities with 50+ additional multi-role carrier borne fighters (MRCBF) indicates an acknowledgement of the rapidly changing ge...