Rafale is back to Afghanistan

3 Rafale from the 01.007 Provence Squadron have arrived in Afghanistan. They are replacing the 3 Mirage F1CR which were deployed on the Kandahar AB for the last 3 years.

The last Rafale Afghan campaign was in November-December 2010 from the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier.






During the last 10 years, the Rafale has been deployed 8 times to Afghanistan :

2002 : Rafale M F1 (Air policing and air refueling)
2004 : Rafale M F1 (Air policing and air refueling)
2006 : Rafale M F1 (Air policing and air refueling)
2007 : Rafale M F2 and Rafale B/C F2 (CAS)
2008 : Rafale B/C F2 (CAS)
2009 : Rafale B/C F2 (CAS)  
2010 : Rafale M F3 (CAS and Recce)
2011 : Rafale B/C F3 (CAS and Recce)

Source : http://www.defense.gouv.fr/