Indian Navy looking to buy Scalp Long Range Cruise Missile For Rafale-M fighters

New Delhi: Indian Navy is looking to buy Scalp long-range cruise missile as part of the weapons package for the 26 Rafale-Ms being bought for the indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, reported the Economic Times.

This comes four months, after France offered local production of submarine-launched Naval Scalp missiles, for the three additional Scorpene submarines that the navy is buying from France.

Last month on 28 October, India submitted a letter of request (LoR) to French government to buy 26 Rafael-M fighter for INS Vikrant.

These missiles will give the navy a significant capability boost compared to the Mig-29K, KH-31 combination. Scalp missiles have a strike range of more than 300 kilometres.

Scalp missiles have also demonstrated their effectiveness in various wars, with the most recent being the Ukraine-Russia war, where the French supplied missiles were successfully able to destroy a ship and a submarine docked at a naval station and Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) already operates Scalp missiles, bought with the thirty-six Rafale fighters acquired in 2016.

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