Rafale Jets: The Hammer and other weapon systems that make the aircraft lethal; read here

The first batch of Dassault Aviation's Rafale jets are on its way to India from France. On Monday morning, five jets including three single-seater and two twin-seater aircraft took off from the company's base and as per the latest inputs, have landed safely at Al Dhafra airbase in the UAE after a sortie in excess of 7 hours.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had received the first Rafale during his visit to the Dassault Aviation facility in Mérignac, France on October 8, 2019. However, the arrival of the aircraft after being refitted with India-specific enhancements was postponed by two months in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

As per Dassault, the Rafale is equipped with advanced weapon capabilities like:

• The MICA air-to-air “Beyond Visual Range” (BVR) interception, combat and self-defense missiles, in their IR (heat-seeking) and EM (active radar homing). The MICA can be used within visual range (WVR) and beyond visual range (BVR);
• The METEOR is a very long-range rocket and ram-jet powered air-to-air EM missile. Its combination with the Rafale weapon system is a real paradigm change in air-to-air affairs;
• The HAMMER (standing for Highly Agile and Manoeuvrable Munition Extended Range) is a modular, rocket-boosted air-to-ground precision-guided weapon series fitted with INS/GPS or INS/GPS/IIR (imaging infra-red) guidance kits;
• The SCALP long-range stand-off missile;
• The AM39 EXOCET anti-ship missile;
• Laser-guided bombs with different warheads from 500lbs to 2,000 lbs;
• Classic non-guided bombs;
• The 2500 rounds per minute NEXTER 30M791 30 mm internal cannon is available on both single and two-seaters;

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Additional capabilities

Furthermore, the Rafale’s stores management system is Mil-Std-1760 compliant, which provides for easy integration of customer-selected weapons, in this case, India's choice of weapons.

With its 10-tonne empty weight, the Rafale is fitted with 14 hard points. Five of them are capable of drop tanks and heavy ordnance. The total external load capacity is more than nine tonnes. Hence, the aircraft can lift the equivalent of its own empty weight in payloads.

“Buddy-buddy” refuelling missions can be carried out in portions of the airspace out of reach of dedicated and vulnerable tanker aircraft.

With its outstanding load-carrying capability and its advanced mission system, a Rafale jet can carry out both air-to-ground strikes, as well as air-to-air attacks and interceptions during the same sortie. It is capable of performing several actions at the same time, such as firing air-to-air missiles during a very low altitude penetration phase: a clear demonstration of the true “OMNIROLE” capability and outstanding survivability of the aircraft.

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