India’s potential choice to favour France’s Dassault Rafale fighter jets over the American F-35 and Russian Su-57 represents a complex, strategic decision shaped by operational needs, reliability, cost, technology transfer, and geopolitics.

As the Indian Air Force (IAF) prepares to retire its ageing fleet of MiG-21s—a Soviet-era platform that has been in service for over six decades—there is an urgent requirement to maintain force strength with modern, highly capable fighter aircraft to ensure air superiority, particularly after recent border skirmishes with Pakistan.

While New Delhi had previously contemplated acquiring the Russian Su-57, the so-called “Felon,” several factors have led to a notable pivot away from Russian defence technology. The Su-57, operational since 2020, was designed as Russia's answer to the U.S. F-35 Lightning-II, boasting impressive speed with a top rate of Mach 2.

However, assessment from Indian defence circles highlights several performance and production challenges. Most importantly, the Su-57’s stealth characteristics lag behind those of American fifth-generation fighters: its radar cross-section is significantly larger, making it more detectable to adversarial radar systems.

The number of operational Su-57s remains low, raising questions about its reliability, supply chain, and real combat capabilities. Additionally, India's interest in cutting-edge technology and the desire for wider international defence partnerships conflict with persistent hurdles in Russian military procurement and export restrictions.

Ongoing geopolitical shifts have further soured India-Russia defence ties, with New Delhi consciously reducing its reliance on Russian platforms, particularly following Russia's ongoing conflict in Ukraine and related Western sanctions.

The American F-35, while technologically superior in stealth and networked combat functions, presents its own set of challenges for India. The program is exceedingly expensive, with a high lifecycle cost, and the U.S. generally imposes strict export controls, offering limited scope for technology sharing, customisation, or local manufacturing.

As India seeks autonomy and greater participation in production—hallmarks of its “Make in India” defence initiative—the F-35’s closed architecture and political strings attached to acquisition have rendered it impractical for near-term procurement.

Furthermore, the U.S. is wary of advanced technology transfer in volatile regional environments or where interoperability risks compromise NATO-centric systems. These caveats have steered India away from the Lightning II, despite its superior stealth, avionics, and extensive digital warfare suite.

In contrast, the Rafale emerges as a proven multi-role fighter with a stellar reputation for operational versatility, reliability, and export-friendliness. Designed by Dassault Aviation, the Rafale excels in air supremacy, ground attack, reconnaissance, and carrier operations—a rare blend in contemporary combat aircraft.

The jet carries wide-ranging weaponry including Sidewinder, ASRAAM, Magic, Penguin 3 air-to-air missiles, and Apache, HARM, ALARM, Maverick air-to-ground munitions, making it formidable in various combat scenarios. Its ability to take off from both land bases and aircraft carriers adds strategic depth to Indian aerial doctrine. The Rafale’s recent export successes globally are testament to its adaptability and high performance in diverse theatres of operation.

Critically, France offers India significant advantages in terms of technology transfer, local assembly, customisation, and maintenance support. The first wave of Rafales acquired by India in 2016 has already proven its effectiveness and compatibility with Indian operational requirements, particularly during skirmishes in the subcontinent.

With future procurements, India stands to gain indigenous capability, logistical ease, and strategic independence unavailable with either the F-35 or Su-57. The Rafale’s 4.5-generation architecture, while marginally less stealthy than the most advanced American models, provides a vital interim solution as India negotiates for future fifth-generation fighter programs—negotiations that, as of July 2025, remain ongoing but undecided.

Therefore, operational capability requirements also favour the Rafale. The Rafale is a proven, versatile multi-role fighter with strengths in air superiority, ground attack, electronic warfare, and interoperability with Indian and allied forces. Given its combat-validated performance and ongoing upgrades, Rafale aligns well with India’s immediate needs for operational readiness and flexibility in the South Asian security environment. India’s strategic doctrine also focuses on a balanced fleet where indigenous efforts like the AMCA project and Tejas Mk variants are complemented by proven foreign platforms like the Rafale, rather than opting for more specialized but less mature fifth-gen systems offered by the US and Russia.

India’s shift toward additional Rafales, and away from both the Su-57 and F-35, is grounded in a pragmatic quest for capability, flexibility, technology access, supply reliability, and robust geopolitical partnerships. As the IAF retires the MiG-21 fleet, the Rafale stands out as the most balanced and advantageous solution for safeguarding India’s airspace and strategic interests through the coming decade.

IDN (With Agency Inputs)