French Air Force's Rafales join IAF counterparts for Desert Knight-21; 'powerful symbol'

The Indian Air Force (IAF) along with their French counterparts commenced the first major international military exercise involving their respective Rafale fighter jets in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, on Wednesday.

As part of the first edition of the joint 'Exercise Desert Knight-21', four French Rafale fighters landed in Jodhpur after flying directly from the Djibouti airbase using their A-330 multirole tanker transport aircraft.

Four Rafale combat jets, two Atlas A400M military transport aircraft, and a Phénix A330 multirole tanker transport aircraft manned by approximately 175 personnel French aviators are taking part in joint drills with the IAF deployment, which includes the newly-inducted Rafales, as well as Mirage 2000s, Su-30 MKI, IL-78 Flight Refuelling Aircraft, AWACS and AEW&C aircraft.

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Exercise Desert Knight-21 is being held at Jodhpur Air Force Station from January 20 to 24 this year. The joint drills mark a significant milestone in the series of engagements between the two air forces.

As part of Indo-French defense cooperation, the Indian Air Force and the French Air and Space Force held six editions of military exercises named "Garuda" at Air Force Base Mont-de-Marsan in France. The two forces have been using opportunities to conduct "hop-exercises" in order to further the existing cooperation.

India had hosted the French Air Force deployment at the air force stations in Agra and Gwalior for exercise while ferrying to Australia for Ex Pitchblack in 2018

The French forces for Ex Desert Knight-21 are deployed in Asia as part of their "Skyros Deployment" and have ferried in forces to Air Force Station Jodhpur.

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India inducts Rafale Fighters

In a boost to its strike capability, the IAF received the first batch of five Rafale jets in July last year, nearly four years after the government inked an agreement with France to procure 36 of the aircraft at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore. The second batch of three Rafale fighter jets joined the IAF in November.

The Rafale jets, manufactured by French aerospace major Dassault Aviation, are India's first major acquisition of fighter planes in 23 years after the Sukhoi jets were imported from Russia. The newly inducted fleet has been carrying out sorties in eastern Ladakh. 

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(With inputs from agency)