Role of Rafale Combat Jets in India’s Defense
The Indian Air Force was extremely thrilled to have a new addition to its defense technology with the Rafale Aircraft. All eyes across the globe were glued to the television screen on 29th July, 2020 when the first batch of five Rafale fighter jets landed at the air base in Ambala. This monumental deal was made in 2016 for 36 Rafale jets from French aerospace major Dassault Aviation.
These twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft are designed to perform air supremacy, interdiction, aerial reconnaissance, ground support, in-depth strike, anti-ship strike and nuclear deterrence missions. The aircraft is designed to carry a range of potent weapons.
The Rafale aircraft has the potential to integrate a variety of current and future armaments. These include the MICA air-to-air missiles which can be used within visual range (WVR) and beyond visual range (BVR), METOR’s long range rocket and ram-jet powered air-to-air EM missile, the HAMMER’s (Highly Agile and Manoeuvrable Munition Extended Range) modular, “rocket-boosted” air-to-ground precision guided weapon series, etc in combination with Rafale is a gamechanger in air to air affairs.
The store management system of Rafale provides for integration of weapons as per requirement. The aircraft has 10 tonnes of empty weight with 14 hard points of which five are capable of dropping tanks and heavy ordnance.
“The giant” is capacitated to carry out both air-to-ground strikes, as well as air-to-air attacks and interceptions during the same sortie.
The Rafale aircraft have arrived at a time when there is strain at the borders both from China and Pakistan. The delivery of the first batch of five aircraft was seen as a milestone in Indian defense as these aircrafts are supposedly much more powerful than any of the weapons in possession of our neighbouring countries. This certainly begs the question that how is the performance of Rafale when compared to other missiles in this range?
China’s J-20 is considered to be one of its biggest assets but experts claim that Rafale is sufficiently more capable than the fighter. J-20 is claimed to belong to 5th generation while Rafale aircraft is of the 4th generation, however after being tested it is claimed that Rafale is more reliable as J-20 has features similar to 3rd generation.
J-20 was believed to be easily concealed, which was a huge concern for the Indian Air Force. However, the Rafale is actually designed for a reduced radar cross-section (RCS) and IR signature which indicate real stealth features. Rafale can carry almost 1.5 times more weight than J-20 and its fuel capacity is also far superior. Thus, Rafale triumphs in almost all aspects in comparison to China’s fighter.
Rafale combat jets are the first addition of foreign fighter jets in the Indian Air Force and these will be integrated with 13 Indian enchantments making them one of the most powerful in the world. These aircrafts are one of the finest in the world and are said to perform multiple missions at once. This is certainly a milestone in India’s conquest towards improving its defense mechanism.
