Prashanth G N, TNN Feb 12, 2011, 04.45am IST
BANGALORE: If there is one thing the French Rafales can do best, it's the dogfight. Small and menacing, the Rafale can plunge in and out rapidly for short distances, hitting the enemy aircraft swiftly.
Five French pilots have flown the Rafale all the way from France to Bangalore -- over 5,000 miles. "We flew in with three air-to-air refuellings. It was a beautiful flight with the two fighter aircraft following the fuel tanker in front. We had a stopover at UAE before coming to India. In all, we did the distance in 9 hours at around 550 km/hour," Rafale pilot Plu Vinage told The Times of India.
Vinage said the French Rafale has superb electronics and cockpit. "It can do a mach 1.8, 9G and 30-degree angle. It's a great aircraft to fly. Lovely handling and manoeuvrability."
How does he see the Rafale with the F-16, F-18 and Su-30? "The Rafale is light and is fantastic when it comes to fights in close proximity. The F-16, F-18 and Su-30 are heavier aircraft to fly. The Su-30 is really massive and requires a lot of power and fuel. But it seems like a very powerful aircraft."
Vinage says the strength of the Rafale lies in the dogfight. "We can hit swiftly when aircraft are close up. Weaponization is lethal. Not too many aircraft can do the dogfight as well as the Rafale."
De L'Air, Vinage's colleague, expresses not one iota of fear in flight. "We are well-trained and the aircraft are good. You have these two, where's the fear? We've been in this for years and over time, you get to understand the aircraft. You know what to do, but you also know what not to do."
Vinage said some of his best moments in flying were during the Indo-French exercises. "We went in with the Rafale and IAF came in with the Su-30. That's when we got a good look at the aircraft. The first thought that came to my mind was power -- Su-30 is about power and being powerful. But for the dogfight, I'd go for the Rafale."
The Rafale is more advanced than the Mirage 2000, which is also French. "The Rafale is a fourth-generation aircraft. It's fly-by-wire and has two engines. If one fails, it can fly on the other. It's a guarantee. The Mirage has been a single-engine aircraft. That's the crucial difference between the two French frontline strikers." PI
On Friday morning, the Rafale took to the skies in a burst of power, swerving to the right and inverting before taking off vertically into the high skies, leaving behind a trail of smoke. The fuel pipe on its cockpit giving it a rather masculine look, the Rafale is a French offering packing punch in the close-ups.
