India will induct French-made Rafale fighter jets in September, said AirChief Marshall BS Dhanoa said on Monday.
India has ordered at least 36 Dassault Aviation-manufactured Rafale fighteraircraft to update its arsenal in the wake of increased threat fromcross-border terror attacks.
Acquiring Rafale jets would provide a huge boosts to India’s aerialcapabilities, considering that it is a twin-engine omni-role fighter with awide array of weapons.
It is not only designed to provide aerial supremacy but also Deep AirSupport (DAS), ground support, in-depth strikes, nuclear deterrencemissions, and aerial reconnaissance.
The aircraft has some salient features that include its avionics orelectrical equipment fitted to the aircraft. It is available in three mainvariants including the Rafale C single-seat land-type, Rafale B twin-seatland-type and Rafale M single-seat carrier-based version.
One of the special features that give Rafale jets an edge in aerial combatis its agility. It offers maximum manoeuvrability due to a combination ofdelta wing with an active close-coupled canard.
While it is not a full-fledged stealth aircraft, it offers reducedvisibility in the air due to many changes to the aircraft’s external partslike the fuselage, tail-fin, engine air in-lets and many more.
The Rafale also houses a glass cockpit with a central computer, whichselects and prioritises information to be displayed for the pilot. It is ahighly-digitized cockpit, and even allows control over a wide range of theplane’s functions via spoken voice commands.
Rafale aircraft is fitted with RBE2 AA active electronically scanned array(AESA), which reportedly delivers a detection range of 200 kilometres. Interms of the engine, Rafale aircraft houses two Snecma M88 engines, each ofwhich is very powerful when it comes to providing thrust.
It has a maximum speed of 1,912 km/hr or 1,032 knots while flyinghigh-altitude and 1,390 km/hr in low-altitude flights.
The standard setup includes a single 30 mm GIAT 30/M791 auto cannon with125 deadly rounds. It also has at least 14 hardpoints (only air forceversion) for fitting weapons and external fuel tank. It is believed to beadept in both air-to-air and air-to-surface combat.
Therefore, the acquisition of Rafale jet holds significance for India.
source:link0095-2019-03-04