Thunder at 100 feet: Flying France's Rafale Superfighter
NDTV's Vishnu Som recently got a chance to fly the French Rafale - one of the most advanced fighter aircraft in the world.
Aug 03, 2012 10:24 IST
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NDTV's Vishnu Som recently got a chance to fly the French Rafale - one of the most advanced fighter aircraft in the world. The superjet won then Indian Air Force's medium multirole combat aircraft competition. He talks about his incredible experience.
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The Rafale can conceivably engage enemy fighters, strike ground targets and fire an anti-ship missile at a warship all in the same mission.
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With air-to-air refuelling and support from airborne early warning radars, the Rafale has demonstrated its ability in being at the forefront of international campaigns.
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What makes the Rafale experience different is the level of automation, the incredible man-machine interface and the highly fused sensor suite the French top gun employs. In simple terms, the Rafale does the same job with more precision and safety for the pilot.
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Dassault, the manufacturers of the Rafale are presently in top-secret negotiations with the Defence Ministry to arrive at a final price among a host of details bound to accompany what has been labelled the world's biggest defence deal, easily worth more than 15 billion dollars for 126 jets.
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When the Rafale eventually enters frontline squadron service with the Indian Air Force (assuming negotiations actually end up in a contract), the IAF may well become the most potent Air Force in the world this side of the United States, all within the next 15 years.
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For me, the sortie on the Rafale was a dream come true, a chance to experience, first hand, a platform the Indian Air Force rates as the best fighter of its class in the world.
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