RAFALE: MEAN IAF MACHINE
Al Dhafra airbase Abu Dhabi Ambala India
July 27: From Merignac airbase in Bordeaux to Al Dhafra airbase near Abu Dhabi. The French air force will refuel the Indian fighters using its Airbus A330 multi-role tanker transport aircraft
July 28: Stopover at Al Dhafra
The aircrew that is bringing the Rafale fighter jets to India is led by Group Captain Harkirat Singh (extreme left), the commanding officer of IAF’S No. 17 Squadron. Son of an army officer, Singh is a decorated fighter pilot who was awarded the Shaurya Chakra in 2009 for extraordinary courage while handling an emergency on his MIG-21 jet
scanned array (AESA) radar on the Rafale and its weapons package make it a formidable platform, said Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha (retd), a former IAF chief. “The Rafale will be a battle winner for the IAF and a huge morale booster at a time of military tensions with China. However, I feel the numbers are not adequate,” Raha said.
He said the IAF should go in for more Rafale jets as the order for
July 29: From Al Dhafra airbase to Ambala airbase. Refuelling support to be provided by the Indian Air Force’s Ilyushin-78 refuellers
36 jets was not enough. The National Democratic Alliance government’s decision to enter into a government-to-government deal with France to buy 36 Rafale warplanes was announced in April 2015 with the deal signed a little over a year later.
This replaced the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime’s decision to buy 126 Rafale aircraft, 108 of which were to be made in India by HAL using parts
imported from France.
The outcome of the dogfight with Pakistan Air Force on February 27, 2019, would have been vastly different if the IAF was equipped with Rafale jets, said a fourth official who was involved in assessing that aerial combat.
The dogfight took place a day after the IAF’S Mirage-2000s struck targets in Pakistan’s Balakot in response to the Pulwama suicide attack in Kashmir in
which 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) men were killed.
India is looking at arming the Rafale fighter jets with an allweather smart weapon of French origin that will allow combat pilots to engage ground targets from a standoff range of up to 60km. The IAF is likely to initiate the purchase of Hammer (Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range) using the emergency financial powers granted
The Indian Air Force’s Rafale aircraft takes off from the Merignac air base.
nto the military by the government at a time of border tensions with China.
The Rafale jets have been specially tailored for the IAF. Indiaspecific enhancements on the jets include cold engine start capability to operate from high-altitude bases including Leh, radar warning receivers, flight data recorders with storage for 10 hours of data and towed decoys to ward off incoming missiles.