Altough it was not officially part of the training, it seems that the Rafale invited itself to the party in order to test the indian and Sigaporean pilots skills !
Not much has leaked on the Rafale participation to Garuda IV but the last issue of "Armee d'aujourd'hui" an official magazine of the french Armed Forces gives us a few clues :
(p.7) [...]After a few days of casual patrols to know each other, things get serious : Interception, cargo plane escort, air strikes... 3 or 4 missions are conducted each day. "More than 20 fighters can be in flight at the same time on the same scenario" [...] In addition, some fighters from other french air bases can come to complicate things, like the Rafale figthers of the 1/7 "Provence" squadron from the BA113 of St Dizier.[...]
An indian Pilot in a Rafale during Garuda IV |
(p.9) [...]"The Indian pilots show a great interest for the french procedures and tactics". says Commander Armit Wij of the 8e indian pursuit squadron.
During Garuda IV, 2 of them had the opportunity to fly the Rafale. Although a lot smaller than the Sukhoi, the french Air Force most advanced fighter "is very impressive" states the indian officer [...]
No comments:
Post a Comment