Defense sources said on Sunday that the five Rafales, who were formally installed into service at Ambala airbase on September 10, have made some “familiarization trips” in Ladakh in recent days. “Rafale pilots have flown the planes from Ambala to Ladakh to familiarize themselves with the operating environment there,” said a source.
With no air refueling, the 4.5 generation Rafales have a combat range of 780 km to 1,650 km, depending on the nature of their mission. In addition, the fighters are armed with long weapons such as “Scalp” air-to-ground cruise missiles with a range of more than 300 km. “As such, the Rafales do not have to be based in Leh,” said the source.
At the induction ceremony, attended by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and his French counterpart Florence Parly, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria had said that the twin-engine Rafales were now “ready to go” for the country.
The induction of Rafales, with its ability to “quickly access” the country’s areas of interest, “could not have happened at a more opportune moment considering the current security scenario.” Rafales will “intimidate and dominate whenever and wherever” they are deployed, he said.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, in turn, said the game-changing Rafales’ induction was “a strong message to the world and especially to those who challenge India’s sovereignty.”
The five Rafales, after landing in Ambala from France on July 29, have also flown day and night departures in different terrain, including the mountainous one in Himachal Pradesh, to integrate them with the general war machine.
The 36 Rafales, under the Rs 59,000 crore agreement signed with France in September 2016, are scheduled to be delivered in 2021-2022. Armed with their air-to-air ‘Meteor’ missiles (120-150 km attack range), ‘Scalp’ missiles and other armaments, they will be able to outperform their Pakistani and Chinese rivals such as F-16, JF-17 and J-20s.
Currently, the IAF has deployed an “adequate number” of Sukhoi-30MKI, Mirage-2000, MiG-29 and other front-line fighters, as well as heavy-lift Chinook and Apache attack helicopters in Ladakh, as well as in other sections to along the 3,488 km line. of Current Control to attend any contingency.
Rafales, if necessary in an emergency, can also be deployed to combat quickly. Ambala and Hashimara air bases will eventually host 18 Rafales each for the western and eastern fronts.
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