This is truly an exciting turn of events of the country’s Air Force. But as laymen who are quite invested in the country’s defences, here’s everything you should know about these jets. 

The Rafales have a combat range of 780-km to 1,650-km depending on the mission and come packed with deadly weapons, advanced avionics radar and electronic warfare systems to prevent getting jammed by enemies. 

They are also armed with ‘Meteor’ air-to-air missiles which have a 120-150 km strike range and ‘Scalp’ air-to-ground cruise missiles with a strike range of over 300 km) among other armaments.

According to Times of India, India also has plans to equip the jets with the ‘Hammer’ air-to-ground precision-guided munitions amidst the military confrontation with China. 

According to reports, they will also be able to outgun and outlast F-16 and JF-17 jets commonly used by Pakitan along with the Chinese Chengdu J-20 fighters. 

The Rafale jets will be equipped with MICA weapon system capable of delivering nuclear weapons. 

It must be noted that this is just the first shipment of the Rafales India has received. All the 36 Rafales are slated to be delivered by end of 2021. All the jets will be fully operational in 2022 after 13 India-specific enhancements are made on them. 

Meanwhile, Indian Air Force pilots and supporting personnel have been provided full training and support on aircraft and weapons systems by Dassault. At least 12 pilots have completed their training and more IAF pilots will continue to train in the next 9 months!