Journalism of Courage
On their way to India from France, five Rafale jets were re-fulled mid-air from a French tanker at a height of 30,000 feet (Twitter/Indian_Embassy)
The jets took off from the Merignac airbase in French port city of Bordeaux on Monday, and will be arriving in India on Wednesday afternoon after covering a distance of nearly 7,000 km (Source: Defence PRO)
The aircrafts are being flown by Indian Air Force pilots. On Monday evening, the Rafale jets landed at Al Dhafra airbase in the UAE after flying for over seven hours (Source: Defence PRO)
The distance covered by the aircraft is close to 7,000 km, and requires air-to-air refuelling. While the distance can be covered within a day as well, with the refuelling, it has been planned that the jets will make a stop in United Arab Emirates. (Source: Defence PRO)
The fleet, comprising three single seater and two twin seater aircraft, will be officially inducted into the IAF as part of its No 17 Squadron, also known as the 'Golden Arrows' (Source: Defence PRO)
The delivery of all the 36 jets is scheduled by the end of 2021. The first Rafale jet was handed over to the IAF in October last year during a visit to France by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh (Twitter/Indian_Embassy)
