France's Rafale Superfighter, soon in the Indian Air Force

Earlier this year, India selected Dassault Aviation of France as its preferred bidder in a $10 billion contest to supply its air force with a new fleet of advanced combat aircraft, the Rafale.

The Rafale is a twin-engine delta-wing multi-role jet fighter aircraft and is called an "omnirole" fighter by its manufacturer. Introduced in 2000, the Rafale is being produced both for land-based use and for carrier-based operations. Apart from France, India would be the only other country to use the Rafale. Through this photo gallery, we take a detailed look at the aircraft in its many variations.

Rafale armed with Mica air-to-air missile in air superiority configuration (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

A Rafale pulls a high G turn (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

The Rafale carries 9.5 tonnes of ordnance (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Rafale equipped with Meteor extreme long range air-to-air missile (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Rafale with METEOR air to air missile (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

METEOR air to air missiles have a range more than 100 kms (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Rafale armed with AASM (Hammer) laser guided bomb (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Rafale operates in any weather condition, day or night (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Rafale on mission (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Rafale armed with laser guided bombs (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Carrier-borne variant of the Rafale (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Rafale armed with Hammer smart bombs (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Rafale armed with SCALP long range ground attack stand-off missile (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Rafale flying into the sunset (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Rafale's cockpit (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Rafale in reconaissance mission configuration with AREOS pod (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Rafale blast off the deck of carrier (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Rafale reconnaissance pod (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Rafale refuelling midair (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Rafale air to air refuelling (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Closeup of Rafale refuelling mid air (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Single and twin seat Rafale omnirole fighters in flight (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Two Rafales split (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Two-ship formation of Rafale omni-role fighters (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Maritime version of Rafale (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Rafale over French carrier de Gaulle (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Rafales on deck of aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Rafale operating off French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Rafale traps arrestor hook on landing onboard carrier de Gaulle (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)

Rafale preparing for a mission (Image credit: Dassault Aviation)