Rafale Jets : An Overview and features

India has received first batch of 5 Rafale from France and Rafale is considered as one of the best fighter jets in the world.

Let us know the overview and features of Rafale;

1) Rafale Fighter Jets are manufactured by Dassault Aviation, France.

2) India is the fourth, after Egypt, France and Qatar to bolster its fleet with Rafale fighter jets. Rafale is also the second French Fighter, Indian Air Force will have in its fleet. IAF already has Mirage 2000 which is also French-made.

3) Dassault Rafale is the only Fighter Aircraft to possess a Targeting Pod which provides color imagery. TALIOS Multifunctional targeting pod gives Rafale's targeting capability an edge over its adversaries, which enters into the aircrafts database giving a tactical situation display.

4) Rafale has air-to-air refuelling capabilities. It can refuel another aircraft in buddy mode. The Rafale for Indian Air Force has been manufactured based on India Specific Enhancements(ISE).

5) Rafale Fighter Jet has two Engines and the capacity to carry up to three 2000 litres tanks on each of the wet points. The Fighter jet has active electronically scanned array(AESA) radar with a range of over 350 km. Rafale Fighter jet has the look down shoot down capability. Rafale also has an integrated Electronic Warfare(EW) Systems.

6) The Rafale fighter jet has several India specific modifications. These include Israeli Helmet mounted displays, low band jammers, radar warning receivers, infra-red search and tracking systems, 10 hour fight data recording among others.

7) The French made Rafale fighter jet is a high precision medium Multi-role combat aircraft. This is said to be one of the most modern 4th Generation aircraft. It has the Capability to carry a mix of armament as well as deliever them accurately.