SOURCE: TNN
The five new Rafale omni-role fighter jets are now undertaking day and night practice sorties in different terrains, including the mountainous one in Himachal Pradesh, ahead of their formal induction ceremony at the Ambala airbase towards the end of this month. Sources said the five Rafales, which will take a couple of months to become fully operational after having touched down at Ambala on July 29, are likely to carry out “similar training sorties” in Ladakh in the near future. The twin-engine fighters, however, can be combat deployed if required in an emergency during the ongoing military confrontation with China.
There has been no breakthrough as yet in the stalled troop disengagement in Pangong Tso and Gogra areas of eastern Ladakh, while the deadlock over the rival military build-ups also persists in the strategically-located Depsang Plains, despite several rounds of military and diplomatic talks between India and China.
India-China border standoff: Complete coverage All the 36 Rafales, under the Rs 59,000 crore deal inked with France in September 2016, will be delivered by end-2021. Armed with their ‘Meteor’ air-to-air missiles (120-150 km strike range), ‘Scalp’ air-to-ground cruise missiles (over 300 km) and other armaments, they will be able to outgun their Pakistani and Chinese rivals like F-16s, JF-17s and J-20s.
But the IAF is in no hurry to operationally deploy them as of now. An “adequate number” of frontline Sukhoi-30MKI, Mirage-2000, MiG-29 and other fighters as well as Chinook heavy-lift and Apache attack helicopters are already positioned in Ladakh as well as other stretches along the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control to cater for any contingency, said sources. The Ambala and Hasimara airbases are slated to house 18 Rafales each for the western and eastern fronts. IAF has also projected the operational need to go in for another 36 Rafales.
