Rafales Take To Skies Amid Confrontation With China

New Delhi: The country’s latest fighter jets, the omnirole Rafales, have now begun to fly in the skies over Ladakh amidst the ongoing almost five-month-long military confrontation with China in the high-altitude region.

Defence sources on Sunday said the five Rafales, which were formally inducted into service at the Ambala airbase on September 10, have conducted some “familiarisation sorties” in Ladakh in recent days. “Rafale pilots have flown the jets from Ambala to Ladakh to familiarise themselves with the operational environment there,” said a source.

Without mid-air refueling, the 4.5-generation Rafales have a combat range of 780-km to 1,650-km, depending on the nature of their mission. Moreover, the fighters are armed with long stand-off weapons like the over 300-km range `Scalp’ air-to-ground cruise missiles. “As such, the Rafales don’t have to be based at Leh,” said the source.