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| Indian Air Force Rafale |
Why Rafale is the best fighter: Rafale vs Chinese S400 and J20
The latest news coming from IAF (Indian Air Force) suggests
that they are fully prepared to deal with any misadventure coming from China
from the air or from the land. India and China are in conflict near the region of
Ladakh and Tibet. China has moved S400 and J20 in Tibet to counter India. IAF
said that they are fully equipped to deal with Chinese S400 and J20 with Rafale omnirole fighter and 70% of the aerial threats can be easily neutralized with Rafale.
According to IAF sources, planes like Rafale and Su-30
MKI and cruise missiles like Brahmos and Scalp are more than enough to counter
these threats. Rafale can counter both Chinese S400 and J20. Rafale’s main strength is its INTEGRATED INTELLIGENT JAMMER SYSTEM that is it is not a white noise-based jammer, which most of the fighter jets use, instead it tricks the enemy
air defenses with false information and no separate jamming pods are needed as jammers are integrated with the plane itself.
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| Su30 MKI with Brahmos |
In a NATO war exercise, Rafale jammed S300 radar with its
jammers when F16 viper and other jets failed. Rafale is considered NATO’s best
SEAD (Suppression of enemy air defenses) weapon. Recently NATO had used it
against Libya along with Tomahawk cruise missile. Rafale and Brahmos will give
IAF similar capabilities. Brahmos is a supersonic cruise missile which can fly
very low about 5 meters above ground and hit at sharp angles. At this level
S400 will have a hard time detecting Brahmos. Rafale might carry Brahmos but
at present there is no requirement by IAF because Rafale has Scalp cruise
missile, which has similar capabilities like that of Brahmos. The scalp also has
stealth capabilities and can fly at low levels. So Rafale with its intelligent
jammers system, Brahmos and Scalp cruise missiles with its stealth can easily
take down the Chinese S400 missile system. Below is a detailed analysis of why J20
and its PL-15 BVR is no threat to Rafale and Su-30 MKI.
Dassault Rafale Aircraft specifications:
The Rafale is a 4.5 generation fighter, it means a gust
of air in French but really is a burst of fire. After much controversy the
Indian Air Force has started getting its Rafale. Rafale is an omnirole twin-engine
aircraft that can perform every trick in the fighter book that is deep air
support, aerial reconnaissance, ground support in-depth strike, anti-ship strike
and nuclear deterrence missions. The Indian Air Force is calling it a game-changer
and with good reason. According to IAF spokesman, “Rafale will change the way
we are going to fight the air battle in our subcontinent”.
Rafale is a very potent aircraft with omnirole
capabilities. The aircraft has got 14 hardpoints, which are able to carry a
variety of weapons and pods. Rafale induction would meet the urgent operational
requirements of the Indian Air Force which is staring at a crisis, it's
squadron strength is down to 31 given the twin threat of Pakistan and China.
The 36 Rafale that India has brought off the shelf from France will fill in
some of these operational gaps but will not be enough. The Rafale squadrons
will be deployed in Ambala front-line base that forms India's defense against
Pakistan in the western sector. France also trained Indian pilots and engineers
extensively to handle Rafale in France. In 2016 Rafale deal was inked after 18
months of negotiation.
Rafale has at least 14 India specific enhancements. The
first it has helmet-mounted sights and targeting system to give the pilots lightning-quick
ability to shoot off weapons then secondly and very importantly it has the
ability to take off from high-altitude air bases likely for quick reaction
deployment thirdly it has a radar warning receiver to identify hostile tracking
systems and has a decoy system to thwart incoming missile attacks and finally it
has French support for 50 years. It has an all-glass cockpit with a holographic
head-up display. The seat is reclined at almost 29 degrees to give the pilots
ability to pull more G-forces. In the front, Rafale has an optronic sensor, a very powerful
radar and air-to-air refueling probe. The weapon stations are under the wings
and under the belly the electronic warfare equipment is present. On the top there
is antenna and the canards in front of the wings give it high agility.
The Rafale weapon package includes the Scalp cruise
missile with a range of more than 300 km with sub-meter accuracy that ensures
considerable operational advantage combined with an airborne early warning
system. The aircraft has passive sensors, which help it to lock and shoot
hostile targets deep into enemy territory without being detected. The Indian Rafale
also carries the Meteor BVR (beyond visual range) air-to-air missile it's
possibly the best in its class and can take out enemy aircraft at a range of
over 100 km. The Dassault has said that the rate of availability for Rafale will be
around 80% this is impressive considering Rafale is packed with the latest avionics
and sensors and needs a lot of maintenance.
The Rafale with its 9-tonne load carrying capacity and
range of 2,500 km will carry nine times more load than a Mig-21 and with an operational
range which is 10 times more, which means if India were to carry out a Balakot
type airstrike again deep within the enemy territory the Rafale would be leading
the pack.
The Rafale is used by the French Air Force and Navy and
has done war duty in Afghanistan, Libya, Mali, Iraq, and Syria. Apart from India
the Egyptian Air Force and the Qatar air force are in the process of acquiring
the multi-role aircraft.
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| Dassault Rafale vs Chengdu J20 |
Dassault Rafale vs Chengdu J20
To counter Indian forces in Ladakh China has moved J20
jets along with S400. IAF sources said they are fully prepared to deal with
Chinese PLAAF J20. IAF has said that it has doubts regarding J20 stealth and
5th generation capabilities because stealth plane does not have canards and J20
does not have supercruise ability. IAF Su30 MKI has also detected J20 jet on
its radar.
Earlier CIA also revealed that J20 only has directional
stealth that it is only stealth from the front. Recently China also accepted that
J20 is fourth generation fighter not fifth generation.
J20 carries PL-15 BVR, which China claims have a range of
200 km and is very effective against enemy targets but Russian military analysts
and IAF experts have said that PL-15 BVR has a low SSKP (single shot kill
probability) and would only be effective against less maneuverable targets like
AWACS and aerial refuellers. It would be completely useless against high maneuverable targets like Su30 MKI and Rafale. PL-15 because of its range also has to carry more fuel which also is a problem. In short Su-30 MKI, Rafale,
Scalp and Brahmos are more than enough to counter the Chinese S400 and J20.
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Informative article..
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