The Rafale jets are capable of carrying a range of potent weapons. MBDA's Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile, Scalp cruise missile and MICA weapons system will be the mainstay of the weapons package of the Rafale. Additionally, with 3 fuel tanks Rafale can travel an impressive 1,850 km with strike mission load. This long range capability of Rafale makes it ideal for Air-to-Ground attacks

NEW DELHI: A third batch of three Rafale fighter jets landed in India on Wednesday evening after flying non-stop from France, in a further boost to the strike capability of the Indian Air Force when India and China are engaged in a bitter border standoff in eastern Ladakh. With the arrival of the new batch, the number of the Rafale aircraft has increased to 11.

Faced with the prospect of an adversary on both western and eastern fronts, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has got the French manufacturer to re-calibrate the software of Rafale fighter jet’s SCALP long-range air-launched cruise missile to ensure that the subsonic weapon hits targets up to 4,000 metres above sea level. The subsonic missile with a range in excess of 300 kilometres and a 450-kilogramme warhead is part of the weapon suite on Rafale Omni-role fighter of the IAF.

The fuel tanks can be clearly seen here, however the Rafales flew threadbare without any weapons

In simple terms, it means that the IAF’s Rafale can demolish targets located in mountains and high plateaus at 4,000 metres instead of the previous calibration of 2,000 metres. The tweaking of the software has been done by the missile manufacturer MBDA in consultation with the top brass of IAF.

"The third batch of three Rafale aircraft landed at an IAF base a short while ago. They flew over 7000 Km with in-flight refuelling. The aircraft got airborne earlier in the day from #IstresAirBase in France. IAF deeply appreciates the tanker support provided by UAE Air Force," the Indian Air Force said in a tweet.
The Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) of the United Arab Emirates provided mid-air refuelling to the three Rafale jets.

The Rafale jets are capable of carrying a range of potent weapons. European missile maker MBDA's Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile, Scalp cruise missile and MICA weapons system will be the mainstay of the weapons package of the Rafale jets.

Rafale carries a beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile Meteor with a range of more than 100 kilometres, the potent SCALP or storm shadow cruise missile and the Hammer precision-guided ammunition. The SCALP missile is used to target command, control, communications, air bases, ports, power stations, ammunition storage depots, surface ships, submarines and other strategic high-value targets.

Although both China and Pakistan have developed air-launched cruise missiles, the SCALP is a unique weapon that has a fire-and-forget mechanism. Once launched from the fighter, the cruise missile drops to a terrain-hugging role between 100 to 130 feet from the ground to avoid detection by the enemy radars and jamming systems. Before approaching the target, the missile again goes up to a maximum height of 6,000 metres and then drops perpendicularly on the high-value target. The primary charge first penetrates the target, the secondary charge then blows it to smithereens. Storm Shadow / SCALP can operate in extreme conditions and offers IAF a highly flexible, deep-strike capability based around a sophisticated mission planning system.

With IAF having to defend on both the fronts and mountainous terrain on either side, airpower will have a very significant role to play in the worst-case scenario. The infantry, apart from the airborne special forces, will be used to defend both the Line of Control (LoC) and the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The SCALP’s range will be crucial to degrade enemy’s fight power.

Agencies