The Dassault Rafale is a French twin-engine, multirole fighter aircraft

designed and built by Dassault Aviation.

Equipped with a wide range of weapons, the Rafale is intended to

perform air supremacy, interdiction, aerial reconnaissance, ground

support, in-depth strike, anti-ship strike and nuclear deterrence missions.

The Rafale is referred to as an "omnirole" aircraft by Dassault.

In the late 1970s, the French Air Force and Navy were seeking to replace

and consolidate their current fleets of aircraft. In order to reduce

development costs and boost prospective sales, France entered into an

arrangement with UK, Germany, Italy and Spain to produce an agile

multi-purpose fighter, the Eurofighter Typhoon.

The Rafale has been marketed for export to several

countries, and was selected for purchase by the Indian

Air Force, the Egyptian Air Force, and the Qatar Air

Force. The Rafale has been used in combat over

Afghanistan, Libya, Mali, Iraq and Syria.

Rafale in India

The Rafale was one of the six aircraft competing in the Indian MRCA competition for

126 multirole fighters

In February 2011, French Rafales flew demonstrations in India, including air-to-air

combat against Su-30MKIs.

In April 2011, the Indian Air Force (IAF) shortlisted the Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon

for the US$10.4 billion contract.

On 31 January 2012, the IAF announced the Rafale as the preferred bidder.

It was proposed that 18 Rafales would be supplied to the IAF by 2015 in fly-away

condition, while the remaining 108 would be manufactured by Hindustan

Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in India under transfer of technology agreements.

The contract for 126 Rafales, services, and parts may have been worth up to US$20

billion.

Previous India deal ---

In May 2013, The Times of India reported that negotiations were "back on track", with

plans for the first 18 Rafales to be delivered in 2017.

Another point of contention was a provision where Dassault was to reinvest 50

percent of the deal's earnings into India's defence sectors, either through purchases

or technological expertise.

In March 2014, the two sides were reported to have agreed that the first 18 aircraft

would be delivered to India in flying condition and that the remaining 108 would be

70 percent built by HAL.

In December 2014, it was reported that India and France expect to sign a contract

by March 2015

New deal

In April 2015, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Paris, India requested the

rapid delivery of 36 Rafales in fly-away condition.

On 23 September 2016, Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his French

counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian signed the contract for the purchase of 36 off-the-

shelf Rafales in a deal worth €7.8 billion with an option for 18 more at the same

inflation-adjusted price.

The first Rafales are expected to be delivered by 2019, and India is set to have all 36

jets within six years.

The deal includes weapons and spares; the aircraft will be equipped with Meteor

BVRAAM missiles.

India is considering ordering 36 more aircraft as of August 2017 due to growing

tensions with China.

Performance

Maximum speed: ** High altitude: Mach 1.8 (1,912 km/h; 1,032 knots)

Low altitude: Mach 1.1 (1,390 km/h; 750 knots)

Range: >3,700 km (>2,000 nmi) with 3 drop tanks

Combat radius: >1,852 km (>1,000 nmi) on penetration mission with two CFTs

(2,300 L), three tanks (5,700 L), two SCALP-EG and two MICA AAMs.

Service ceiling: 15,235 m (50,000 ft)

Rate of climb: >304.8 m/s (>60,000 ft/min)

Wing loading: 328 kg/m2 (67.1 lb/ft2)

What happened recently

During the sortie, the Defence Minister sat in the rear cockpit while a French pilot flew

the customised aircraft with tail number RB-01. RB stands for the newly appointed IAF

chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhaduria, in recognition of his role in striking the Rafale

deal in 2016.

All 36 jets will arrive by April 2022, with 18 each to be deployed at Ambala and

Hasimara for the western and eastern front

COMPARED to SU30MKI fighter jets in the IAF, Rafale fares much

higher

LOITERING CAPABILITY: 1.5 times of Su30MKI

RANGE: 780-1055 km vs 400-550 of Su30MKI