The first 5 Indian Air Force (IAF) Dassault Aviation Rafale aircraft left Merignac in Southwest France on 27th July and are expected to land at Ambala Air Base in India on 29th July after a brief pit-stop in the UAE.
The journey from France to India is over 7,000km in total and this journey is being made on Martin-Baker F16F Ejection Seats, pictured below. There are 316 F16F seats in service today with that number expected to exceed 400 by 2024. To date, 5 lives have been saved in an F16F Ejection Seat.
The Indian Air Force and Navy account for 1,013 Martin-Baker Ejection Seats in service today, making India Martin-Baker’s 2nd largest global customer. India currently operates Mk.4, Mk.9, Mk.10, Mk.11 and Mk.16 Ejection Seats, in service in the HJT-16, Jaguar, Mirage, Hawk, PC-7 MkII, Tejas, HJT-36 and now Rafale aircraft.
Martin-Baker has a longstanding relationship with India, with the first Indian life saved dating back to 1958. 62 years later and 230 Indian lives saved to date, we are proud to continue supporting the Indian military.