The summit is a critical intervention as AI-driven information ecosystems amplify noise and flatten complex issues into convenient narratives, least of all the combat performance of the Rafale fighter jet.
NEW DELHI: A recent report by the Swiss think tank Centre for Military History and Perspective Studies (CHPM) states that the Indian Air Force achieved total air dominance over the Pakistani military during Operation Sindoor, effectively pummelling it into submission. A close reading shows the report largely organises information already available in the public domain on the widely covered skirmish into a single document. In that sense, there is little novelty, contrary to popular perception.That it is being repeatedly circulated by domain experts, journalists and commentators—despite the Indian Air Force having provided tangible evidence much earlier, unlike their Pakistani counterparts who relied largely on propaganda—points to a phenomenon not rooted in military operations but in the broader infantilisation of public discourse. There is no better time to address this than now, as the second edition of the India-France Artificial Intelligence Summit is scheduled in New Delhi. The summit is a critical intervention as AI-driven information ecosystems amplify noise and flatten complex issues into convenient narratives, least of all the combat performance of the Rafale fighter jet. With the Defence Procurement Board clearing the 114 Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft deal for the Indian Air Force, debates once again surface that are devoid of knowledge yet rife with partisan opinion.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s upcoming visit to India, where he is supposed to co-chair the follow-up edition of the AI summit, will also coincide with the initiation of a government-to-government (G2G) agreement for the induction of 114 Rafale fighter jets by the Indian Air Force. The imminent deal, though, has already started generating extensive commentary in popular media circles. But once again, the discussions and debates have largely failed to visualise the platforms as an early industrial and technological bridge that shall lay the early groundwork for the future evolution of India’s military aviation complex by the mid-2030s onwards. Current debates are mostly reducing a critical pillar of India’s air power to straitjacket phrases like “inflated cost” and “platform generation” without realising that the Rafale will occupy a rather rare place in India’s military complex, where a high-end platform will also account for numerical strength. Before interrogating the larger message of the article, it would serve explanatory purpose to address the straitjacket phrases first.
On the issue of price, the 36 Rafales India procured in 2016 cost approximately Rs 58,500 crore. The estimated cost of the fresh 114 jets is assessed at around Rs 1.25 lakh crore. This covers about 80 additional jets, post-Covid global supply-chain disruptions and a prolonged phase of high inflation over the past 5-6 years, where an annual 7-8% inflation spike is considered conservative, particularly for defence and high-end manufacturing sectors worst hit by cost escalation.Additionally, it includes the establishment of a Rafale production line in India. Finally, the Rs 1.25 lakh crore package also provides for the upgradation of the existing 36 jets from the 2016 deal. Even a moderately informed person within the strategic and industrial community knows that today, the cost of upgrading a fighter jet is nearly half the price of the aircraft itself. Factoring in these considerations, the stated amount appears reasonable.
Why invest in a 4.5th generation jet when 5th generation jets are emerging? This line captures the crux of the debates following the DPB’s clearance of the MRFA deal. Yet its ubiquity betrays a limited understanding of air combat doctrine and economics. There is no linear replacement cycle in global air forces. Even the United States continues to fly and upgrade F-16s introduced nearly five decades ago alongside the fifth-generation F-22 Raptor. Fighters are deployed for specific missions. While fifth-generation jets are optimised for deep penetration, high-risk operations, they do not span the entire mission spectrum. For most air-defence and air-dominance roles, including rapid-response missions, a capable,upgradeable and networked lower-generation jet remains indispensable. Rafale’s open-architecture design and software-defined upgrades ensure adaptability. Its F4 standard enhances sensor fusion, keeping it central to network-centric warfare. The F5 version—24 of which the IAF will procure—adds next-generation connectivity, weaponry and engines,largely absent from debates fixated on cost, obsolescence or unsubstantiated Pakistani claims during Operation Sindoor.Separating wheat from chaff, India can arrest squadron decline while operating a scalable fifth-generation platform through domestic production if required.
Every country, including the US, China and Russia, has invested in fifth-generation platforms without leapfrogging to sixth-generation capability, despite possessing the technology, capital and engineering base to do so. Notably, France has invested in the multi-country Future Combat Air System (FCAS) without fielding a fifth-generation platform. A country with a relatively independent security policy and a mature military aviation ecosystem would not skip an entire generation of combat capability unless it already possessed a commensurate one—and Rafale F5 fits that role. France’s 2025 confirmation of a more advanced T-Rex version of the M-88 engine reinforces this fact. Beyond political or media noise,sealing the 114-aircraft deal serves India’s interest not merely for fleet sustainment, but as a proven platform anchoring the IAF into the next decade of aerial warfare, its industrial base and strategic doctrine. The surrounding public discourse,however, demands attention—making the second India-France AI Summit particularly pertinent.
It is amid such din that the necessity of the summit—is a political imperative rather than a technological spectacle—cannot be overstated. It bears emphasis that India, with France’s support, has consistently pushed for context-driven AI governance. The upcoming summit will map how AI-based systems should be deployed with domain-specific awareness and sensitivity. Strategic sectors such as health and defence demand distinct benchmarks for explainability and restraint.This is especially imperative at a time when popular discourse has glossed over established military superiority over Pakistan during the skirmish, instead bickering over inconsequential claims such as the number of fighter jets—particularly Rafales—lost, often based on fabricated sources. The summit will see participation from at least 12 heads of state and nearly $70 billion in investment. Yet the intrinsic message is unmistakable: France and India recognise a simple truth—that AI is not neutral, and its unrestrained use can amplify the worst tendencies in public discourse, undermining societal intelligence in functioning democracies.
The twin concomitant developments of the 114 MRFA deal and the AI summit might appear to carry two different policy prerogatives. However, when we examine it more minutely and prudently through the lens of contemporary governance and security requirements, they reveal an interconnection that is consequential. Because, AI will not merely shape how a jet responds to a particular mission from an operational standpoint but almost equally, if not more, the manner in which narratives, discourses and biases are conjectured around military operations and security doctrines. Manipulation of belief, as Michel Foucault talked about once aptly explains this condition today and will so, tomorrow.
Dr Manish Barma holds a PhD from the Centre of European Studies, School of International Relations, Jawaharlal Nehru University. He has been a Visiting Scholar at the International Hellenic University at Thessaloniki, Greece.
