India had ordered 36 Rafale jets from France in September 2016. The jets began arriving last year. The high tech fighters are India's first major acquisition of fighters after the Sukhoi jets which was imported from Russia.
Rafale fighter jets are capable of carrying range weapons with air-to-air missiles and Scalp cruise missiles being its mainstay.
Meteor is a next-generation beyond visual range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) designed to revolutionise air-to-air combat. The weapon has been developed by MBDA to combat common threats faced by Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain and Sweden.
The Rafale combat aircraft can reach maximum speeds of 750 knots with a service ceiling of 50,000 feet. The super jets can also carry out air-to-ground strikes including air-to-air attacks and can fire air-to-air missiles during a very low altitude penetration phase.