New Delhi:

India on Friday successfully claimed 36 Rafale jets from France which will be delivered soon in a fly-away condition to power India’s air force. The plane originated in France took its first flight on July 4, 1986. Here is a look at the details about the fighter jet.



What is Rafale jet?

It is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, 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, and nuclear strike missions.



Varients available so far



Rafale A - Technology demonstrator, first flying in 1986.



Rafale D - Dassault used this designation (D for discrète) in the early 1990s to emphasise the new semi-stealthy design features.



Rafale B - Two-seater version for the French Air Force.



Rafale C - Single-seat version for the French Air Force.



Rafale M - Carrier-borne version for the French Naval Aviation, which entered service in 2001. For carrier operations, the M model has a strengthened airframe, longer nose gear leg to provide a more nose-up attitude, larger tailhook between the engines, and a built-in boarding ladder. Consequently, the Rafale M weighs about 500 kg (1,100 lb) more than the Rafale C. It is the only non-US fighter type cleared to operate from the decks of US carriers, using catapults and their arresting gear, as demonstrated in 2008 when six Rafales from Flottille 12F integrated into the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Air Wing interoperability exercise.



Rafale N - Originally called the Rafale BM, was a planned missile-only two-seater version for the Aéronavale. Budgetary and technical constraints have been cited as grounds for its cancellation.



Rafale R - Proposed reconnaissance-oriented variant.



Potential countries using jet

The jet is definitely an asset for any army during combat. Including India, 7 other major countries have this plane in their air forces. Egypt, Canada, Qatar, UAE, Malaysia are amongst those prominent countries which use this plane to combat enemy.

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