Know Your 'Rafale'

[Abhijeet Dey]

Some news is coming that 5 additional Rafales are going to be delivered before October this year and that they won't be deployed in Ambala.

Yes Hasimara air force base, West Bengal. It is close to Bhutan.

101st air force squadron I believe.

 

[Abhijeet Dey]

No. 101 Squadron IAF

No. 101 Squadron IAF - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Mikesingh]

I think Pakistan censors any bad news with regards to their F-16, Lack of Spares? US has not imposed any sanctions on Pakistan? Sir you mean to say that Pakistan has not got enough money even to buy spare parts to enable fleet stay air worthy? please clear this question? Next time after a Balakot type like strike, I wish an F-16 Wreckage falls inside Indian border. Day it is done many myths can be blown away.

US officials have asserted that the freeze in security assistance to Pakistan which includes essential spares for US assets including aircraft on President Donald Trump's direction since January 2018 was still in place and the latest decision would help it in 24x7 end-use monitoring of the F-16 fighter jets too.

Your wish that an F-16 falls inside Indian territory can only come true if the PAF has the balls to enter Indian territory! For this to happen, you would have to wait till the cows come home - which could be never!

 

[daya]

I think these pictures are enough burn-all moments for these mentally challenged porkis...

 

[Mikesingh]

It would be also beneficial for Dassault to find some other partner for DRAL whose last name is not "Ambani" or "Adani". May be that would help in avoiding PR disasters in future.

DRAL is already producing the undercarriage, nose cones and interiors for Dassault's Falcon business class jets since the past one year. Can't suddenly change now. Anyway, except for Pappu and his almost defunct Cong, no one is losing any sleep because of Ambani. It's a non issue.

 

[Frontrunner]

Rafale is more about psychological advantage that IAF will have over PAF after it's induction.. ... A la the F-16s which paf use to boast about specially after getting equipped it with aim120C... Lemme explain how...

Paf whole air doctrine all these years have been woven around F-16... It's their silver bullet.. with years of experience in hand..
A top notch western platform.. being cynosure of PAF since it's induction...

Ask any sane paf pilot he will lap upto f-16 instead of their Chinese FC-1 (JF-17).. they know western technology has it's own quality nd deterrence.. this facts was well established by last year engagement where they used f-16 extensively to deter su-30s.. leaving low end job for jf-17 to protect their ancient mirages... They even tried to pass mig21 kill to jf-17.. this reflects their state of mind..

their love for western tech was all in open when they tried to secure jf-17 avionics nd armament package from france... If they had confidence on Chinese tech. . why did they asked for french avionics in first place ... thus Jf-17 is a deplorable compromise ..

IAF too is only wary of their f-16s as armed with amraam it's a strong foe..

Now imagine an encore of last year limited air skirmish with rafale in picture.. suppose in near future if same situation arise where paf have to retaliate after a balakot 2.0..

Here imagine a squadron of rafale with their spectra ew suite & armed with long range meteors doing cap... The deterrent it will have.. the level of psychological advantage IAF will have over PAF ... A single Rafale squadron can leave whole f-16s of paf scurrying for cover...Every time an iaf jets goes up in the air.. they will fear it is rafale...

now include S-400 & MRSAM .... It will completely shut PAF into their respective bases... After induction of rafale nd S-400 paf will to retaliate will evaporate in thin air...

same like as during Kargil when we had bvr advantage over them... also during not much published nd talked about Bombing by mirage 2k in 2002 in kel pok where again paf didn't turn up.. nd pakistan denied anything happened.

Now in any future limited round conflict.. pakistan will again go by the same line.. that is they will deny nd try to spin out a propoganda with their ispr...

THIS is the DETERRENCE effect of rafale.. it's not an aircraft that will wage war.. instead it is an aircraft which will prevent war by limiting PAF will to respond to IAF actions inside their territory..

 

[piKacHHu]

DRAL is already producing the undercarriage, nose cones and interiors for Dassault's Falcon business class jets since the past one year. Can't suddenly change now. Anyway, except for Pappu and his almost defunct Cong, no one is losing any sleep because of Ambani. It's a non issue.

I was kidding by the way. "Ambani/Adani" are favorite punching bags not only for Congress but the whole league of left liberal gangs.
I wish Anil Ambani & DRAL good luck; may this venture rescue him out from impending bankruptcy.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

India’s Rafale fighter jets have no chance against China’s J-20: experts - Global Times

www.globaltimes.cn

India’s Rafale fighter jets have no chance against China’s J-20: experts

chinese scaird

 

[Mikel]

India’s Rafale fighter jets have no chance against China’s J-20: experts - Global Times

www.globaltimes.cn

India’s Rafale fighter jets have no chance against China’s J-20: experts

chinese scaird

Global times writers have the Emotional Quotient of a toddler

 

[LETHALFORCE]

IAF's Rafale could have up to 6 HAMMER hardpoints; primed to devastate land-based targets- Republic World

On Monday, the first batch of five Rafale fighter aircraft took off from France for India, nearly four years after the two countries inked an inter-governmental agreement to supply 36 of the multi-role jets to the Indian Air Force (IAF) under a Rs 59,000-crore deal. The aircraft flew out from...

www.republicworld.com

IAF's Rafale Could Have Up To 6 HAMMER Hardpoints; Primed To Devastate Land-based Targets

 

[LETHALFORCE]

France uses Rafale fighter in 'rare' nuclear attack test

The test comes days after the US, Russia ended their adherence to the INF Treaty

www.theweek.in

France uses Rafale fighter in 'rare' nuclear attack test

 

[BON PLAN]

the cannon of Rafale :

 

[Assassin 2.0]

View attachment 54968

Patch worn by the Armee de L'Air , pilot's .

What is written on the top??

 

[Sanglamorre]

What is written on the top??

"Where Dangerous..." Rest is cut off

Btw, if it's indeed Armée de L'Air, why is the patch in English?

 

[Hindu Nationalist]

 

[Neptune]

View attachment 54784View attachment 54785

Is this inside an Indian Rafale? The fighter sphere tablet, cockpit, ergonomics and helmet look impressive. Something as small and trivial as that tablet could have prevented the loss of that MiG-21 because I believe Abhi didn’t even know how deep he was in Pakistan territory. I know it’s a Rafale thread but I couldn’t help but compare the avionics of the Rafale to the F-16s that Pakistan uses. The Pakistani F-16 are extremely lethal and proven aircraft, the most impressive components of the block 52 F-16s in Pakistan’s arsenal is the radar and AIM-120c5 missiles which I believe can shoot down almost any aircraft under the right circumstances. Where Pakistan’s F-16 fall short is in electronic counter measures, sensor fusion, combat range, missile range and even dogfighting. The PAF is also smaller and less complicated then the IAF, which was a problem in February for India, the Indian side clearly had major issues in communications and jamming. Let’s hope those issues were solved.

With all the rumbling coming from Pakistan claiming that their F-16s and JF-17s are more advanced then Rafales, I still find it ironic that Pakistan still used vintage 1980s HGU-55 helmets for their aircraft. While India now uses modern Thales helmets with HUD and HMS.

One last thing, I was reading in the Indian press that India plans to ‘upgrade’ the Rafale with some Israeli upgrades, and maybe even Indian? Is that true? Why take a proven platform and mess with it? This was one of the issues India had with Pakistan in February. India had weapons systems from all around the world, India then integrated countless upgrades from countless countries, some of those weapons systems did not worked as planned. We can’t forget friendly fire, communications being intercepted and likely jammed. India would be wise to just master what it has and evolve around its platforms rather then trying to reinvent the wheel. I don’t have any problem with minor upgrades especially if it’s already proven to work on certain platforms but when everything is MKI’ed then problems arise. Much of this is likely bureaucracy just so companies like HAL can have a slice of the pie.

My rant was somewhat lengthy but going back to the main topic. It’s impressive the capabilities the Rafale provides, and it’s certainly more advanced then any Pakistani F-16. The situational awareness, ECM, and long rang weapons systems in the Rafale make it self sustainable, meaning it doesn’t have to rely on AWACS or ground controllers as much as other aircraft.

The big priority now is integrating weapons, tactics and communications so that Rafales and SU-30MKIs can work together as one and compliment each other.

 

[Poseidon]

 

[Poseidon]

Is this dude for real or what?
What has Cobra commandos got to do with Rafales!!

 

[Blue Water Navy]

I know this is not a Air Force thread. But still it's part of our modernization.

Our Rafale's at the Ambala Air Force Station.

Our Rafales during air-refueling.

Rafales while being handed over to the IAF.

 

[Ultramarine]

Is this inside an Indian Rafale? The fighter sphere tablet, cockpit, ergonomics and helmet look impressive. Something as small and trivial as that tablet could have prevented the loss of that MiG-21 because I believe Abhi didn’t even know how deep he was in Pakistan territory. I know it’s a Rafale thread but I couldn’t help but compare the avionics of the Rafale to the F-16s that Pakistan uses. The Pakistani F-16 are extremely lethal and proven aircraft, the most impressive components of the block 52 F-16s in Pakistan’s arsenal is the radar and AIM-120c5 missiles which I believe can shoot down almost any aircraft under the right circumstances. Where Pakistan’s F-16 fall short is in electronic counter measures, sensor fusion, combat range, missile range and even dogfighting. The PAF is also smaller and less complicated then the IAF, which was a problem in February for India, the Indian side clearly had major issues in communications and jamming. Let’s hope those issues were solved.

With all the rumbling coming from Pakistan claiming that their F-16s and JF-17s are more advanced then Rafales, I still find it ironic that Pakistan still used vintage 1980s HGU-55 helmets for their aircraft. While India now uses modern Thales helmets with HUD and HMS.

One last thing, I was reading in the Indian press that India plans to ‘upgrade’ the Rafale with some Israeli upgrades, and maybe even Indian? Is that true? Why take a proven platform and mess with it? This was one of the issues India had with Pakistan in February. India had weapons systems from all around the world, India then integrated countless upgrades from countless countries, some of those weapons systems did not worked as planned. We can’t forget friendly fire, communications being intercepted and likely jammed. India would be wise to just master what it has and evolve around its platforms rather then trying to reinvent the wheel. I don’t have any problem with minor upgrades especially if it’s already proven to work on certain platforms but when everything is MKI’ed then problems arise. Much of this is likely bureaucracy just so companies like HAL can have a slice of the pie.

My rant was somewhat lengthy but going back to the main topic. It’s impressive the capabilities the Rafale provides, and it’s certainly more advanced then any Pakistani F-16. The situational awareness, ECM, and long rang weapons systems in the Rafale make it self sustainable, meaning it doesn’t have to rely on AWACS or ground controllers as much as other aircraft.

The big priority now is integrating weapons, tactics and communications so that Rafales and SU-30MKIs can work together as one and compliment each other.

While you have mentioned things correctly about Rafale, some things dont add up with respect to the Balakot strike and its aftermath.

Yes, one Mig 21 was jammed. One reason was the beauracracy took a long time to update these legacy radio systems with SDR's. What remained unsaid was we also could monitor what the Pakistanis were upto. There's one interesting nugget of their pilot radioing issues with his oxygen supply and heading back just when an Indian riposte was incoming. Add to that, their absolute bewilderment when the Migs showed up. All that is very well recorded and will be released when its deemed satisfactory that we have moved to a new means of interception of comms without putting in danger the existing means. So issue with secure comms was not only an issue plaguing us but also them despite whatever spins Pakistanis and their 4 fathers come up with.

India specific enhancements are because planes and other hardwares do not necessarily work correctly in countries where they are exported vis-a-vis their country of origin.
Every platform undergoes tropicalisation in Indian service starting from Ships, subs and fighting vehicles like tanks and even aeroplanes. In case of Rafale they were because, we wanted it too take off in the cold and high environs with a combat load something which its engines where not equipped to do that well. Hence ISE applied to their engines to function them better. Likewise, the Litening pod is better than their Damocles and so is the X guard decoy from Rafael. Same with the Helmet as our experiences with Israeli helmets has been pretty good. Hence ISE applied to them. Similarly, there were a host of requirements from our side as improvements as our threat profile is pretty different from what the french faced. Indian/Israeli weapons integration is another such ISE because in some years we will see a host of Indian developed munitions coming online and there is no point in buying only imported stuff when our own is way cheaper and in some senses is even better.
A platform proven or otherwise does not mean that they will not be integrated with something else being in the service.

Our initial Mig-21's had only K-13 missiles and no guns. And since the missiles were not very reliable learning from our experiences of war, we asked for a gun too. The 21 was already a mature platform then in soviet service and yet these were asked for. Point is countries will improve and integrate weapons as and when need arises. Similar to how even the US does with its own system integration with proven platforms, when it buys weapons from other countries be it the Harrier / Canberra from britain or the latest contract for FREMM frigates from France/Italy.

We have a host of weapon systems and integrating them is a challenge and thats why you see the periodic test firings all year round. Russian missiles, western platforms, Israeli weapons and radar, French systems integration and now with Indian weapons and systems, is not easy and hence the forces are justifiably proud of their efforts. The often quoted Mi-17 shootdown spoken of so gleefully in some quarters was because the IFF was turned off. No amount of optimised system integration will rectify this. Here the issue was with an unfortunate chain of events that led to the shootdown and no there were no issues with system integrations here. Corrective measures were taken after that and CoI proceedings too initiated against the Srinagar base commander. Wars bring out the best and the worst and lessons learnt are taken seriously and hence the push from IAF on new spice variants, Secure radios and new engagement protocols which are ratified every now and then.

Let the Pakistanis try another of their swift blunders. Many a myths will be broken and many of their own will uncover new things.