Landing of the First batch of Dassault Rafale Empowering Indian Air Force (IAF)
Published on : Thursday 30-07-2020
The landing of the first batch of 5 Rafale fighter jets that landed in Ambala on Wednesday will re-establish the Indian Air Force's (IAF) Number 17 Golden Arrows squadron. India signed a 36 Rafale aircraft purchase deal with France and planned to receive all Dassault Rafale jets by 2022.
It will take it to 32 squadrons, still well below the 42 squadrons of the sanctioned strength. On their way of the first batch of dispatch from France to India, 5 Rafale jets were re-fulled mid-air from a French tanker at a height of 30,000 feet. The squadron power of the IAF will be taken by it. It will require it to 32 squadrons, still well below the 42 squadrons of the sanctioned strength when 2022 delivers all of the Rafale jets.
Dassault Rafale Specifications:
• Ferry Range: 3,700 km
• Length: 15.30 m
• Height: 5.30 m
• Top Speed: 1.8 Mach at high altitude
• Landing ground run: 450 m (1,500 ft)
• Service ceiling: 50,000 ft
• Wingspan: 10.90 m
• Overall empty weight: 10 tonnes
• External load: 9.5 tonnes
• Max. take-off weight: 24.5 tonnes
• Fuel (internal): 4.7 tonnes
• Fuel (external): up to 6.7 tonnes
The advanced 4.5 Generation Rafale jet could reach almost double the rate of sound, using a top rate of 1.8 Mach. Including air defense, electronic warfare, ground support, and strikes, the Rafale brings air superiority.
Even though China's J20 Chengdu jets are known as fifth-generation combat jets, compared to 4.5 generation Rafale, the J20 have no true combat experience. Whereas the Rafale is battle-proven, was used by the French Air Force for its missions in Mali, Libya, and Afghanistan. Additionally, it has been used for missions in Syria, Iraq, and the Central African Republic. Rafale can also carry more fuel and weapons than the J20.
Every aircraft has 14 storage stations for weapons. The jets arrive with one of the most innovative air-to-air missiles that are Meteor. The 190-kg missile includes a Beyond Visual Range (BVR) of over 100 km, traveling at a high speed of Mach 4. The jets, utilized by Pakistan, take the AMRAAM missile, which has a BVR of 75 km. Rafale can also outperform F16 in dogfights.
The Rafale jets additionally arrive with a range of over 300 km with SCALP. It is a long-range deep attack missile.
The MICA air-to-air missile on Rafale is for the two, dogfights that are close-quarter, also for BVR. At the last-minute, India has also asked for HAMMER (Highly Agile and Manoeuvrable Munition Extended Range), which is an air-to-ground precision-guided missile made by French conglomerate Safran, also can be used contrary to bunker-type hardened targets within the assortment of 70 km.
