No. While the MKI is definitely a formidable aircraft its maintenance & operational costs are a nightmare. Even the Russians didn't produce much of them for their own air force. They capped it at ~120 jets in favour of Su-35. IAF is right when it says it needs another frontline aircraft. They need something that is relatively spending more time in the air than on the ground at a lesser cost. My belief is they'll immediately cap the MKI programme if it has not been done so by now once Rafales are inducted. Of course, 36 won't do. They'll have to place more orders. Lockheed would like India to cap Rafale at 36 & buy their F-16/F-21 jets as their international sales overall, not just that of F-16s, have been severely limited over the years. IAF needs at least 100 more multirole jets that would replace not just the legacy jets but would be there to fill in space of Mirage-2000s and MiG-29s after their retirement in 15 to 20 years time (at least).
Problem with Rafale is that it was controversially eliminated in the Indian MMRCA competition then controversially brought back into the race, & even more controversially won the tender. If I were to select I would have chosen Gripens. They are cost effective to be procured in large numbers. India could have easily had 200 of them alongside American weapons, such as AMRAAM.
While we joke about the LCA programme, it is indeed sensible for India to build an indigenous jet that serves this purpose. The Mark-II programme, if managed effectively, can do a good job, just as JF-17 has done. What the Indian government needs to do is reduce the strict civil-scientific bureaucratic control over HAL's production & appoint senior IAF & IN officials to oversee the development of LCA Mark-II. IAF & IN should be the primary organizations to conduct capability assessments, not HAL or DRDO.
