Photos of the Rafale in September when it was conducting the initial leg of its field evaluation trials for the MMRCA FET phase. Nobody else got a look at pair of aircraft when they arrived. Valuably snapped by talented planespotter/photographer, Debarka.
Photos ©Copyright & Courtesy Debarka Banik
great presence of mind by debarks in getting these shots. congrats!
Hi Shiv
With stealth & radar cross-section (RCS) reductions becoming routine in fighter planes today, please could you write on the stealth factor of the contenders in the MMRCA.
awesome pictures. So any one whats the latest on mmrca front? I guess rafale, f16,f18,mig35 are on trails.What abt eurofighter n gripen?
Rafale does not stand a chance anymore in MMRCA from my sources in the know after Dassault's shenanigans and ridiculous attitude with M2K upgrades. Having pissed off MOD & IAF they might as well pack their bags and count their losses.
Just one thought folks – and would like your opinion. Our Mig 21's are still crashing and this competetion is a long way off . How about an immediate interim purchase of 50 Gripens + 10 trainers only in the Air Defense version.( The LCA development can go on simultaneously and forced to compete with the Gripen ).
The Gripens will counter the Paki J17 and provide the much needed point defense capability.The MMRCA can go on.
Similarly an interim purchase of 20Managusta or Roovaliks can bridge the gap in the attack choppers until we decide on the final replacement for the Hinds.
Planespotter 🙂
To anon 4:27 PM
An interim purchase is not needed, all Mig 21 except the Bisons (which will be replaced by MMRCA) will be phased out in the next 2 years. New LCA MK1 and Su 30MKI are already ordered and will enter service in the same time, so squad numbers won't be reduced too much anymore.
Also the total number of attack helicopter that IAF wants to buy is 22, that means an interim purchase of 20 wouldn't make sense right?
Nice pics btw!
IMO Rafale is cleary the frontrunner in the competition, because no other fighter suits so perfect besides MKI and offers so many advantages!
Nice pics. Rafale a frontrunner?! Keep dreaming. The french nailed their own coffin the day they refused to keep the production line open for the Mirage-2000-5. Had they listened to us, they would've had a cool order for 200 aircraft…Fools.
why look for these 2 engine planes.
The comparison of planes in wikipedia with respect to MRCA competition clearly says that Gripen is the clear winner all the way.
I will say the Indian government should overlook these planes and go for the Gripen at once, as we dont have much time before the entire Mig 21 fleet is withdrawn.
Friends ,
By the time decisions are made Pakistan shall have at leaste 100 J10, 50 J17 and 150 F16's. We shall ofcourse have conducted 10,000th sucessful test for LCA and dreaming of PAK 50 and still negotiating for additional Hawk triners – and I am not talking of China.
May I suggest that since our Airforce is history now , let us go the whole hog on Air defense through SAM's and Anti Aircraft guns and invest heavily in UCLAV's and other unmanned assets.
Thats true. With Pak already in the induction of JF17 and getting 2 sqrdns of J10 frm China, it is high time we act swiftly. Also establish a missile shield at the eastern border either indigenous or buy in order to counter any Chinese incoming missiles
Hey Shiv,
Are you getting kick backs from the French to create a pro-rafale mindset in Indians by not covering the crash of 2 rafale aircraft(involved in exercise at the same time) might have been a crash might not have been a crash.. what do U have to say about it is what i wanna know 🙂
Hi Shiv …. if you know somebody in ADA or HAL …. just think of this idea for LCA MK2 …. why not get the RAFALE mainframe and blueprint for a cheap price from Dassault ?
Apparently RAFALE is on a budget life support … becos no customers for a decade for its Rafale only French operate it …. therefore no new upgrades or avionics are planned in the future … so if customers are going to buy fighter jets they want future upgrades and sort of stuff….
Developing a mainframe from Rafale is not going to be expensive … maybe the IAF will like it with composites frame changes thrown into it …. also the production lines will open faster and roll out the MK2 earlier than expected.