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| Not 5th Generation Fighter Aircraft, Rafale Technology Close to Stealth Fighter Aircraft |
International Military - France is very fortunate to have an inventory of Rafale fighter jets. The Rafale itself, which is known as the most sophisticated card-winged fighter jet, is currently making its way uphill. Because the campaign carried out by France for marketing and selling Rafale fighter jets to several countries is considered a success.
One example is the UAE which has openly bought up 80 units of the F4 variant of the Rafale fighter jet. Not only the UAE, but France also successfully sold 42 Rafale fighter jets to Indonesia. With the sale of the Rafale to Indonesia, the Republic of Indonesia became the first country in the southern hemisphere to use this fighter jet.
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Quoted from nationalinterest.org, previously there was an explanation from the leading international media about the ability of the Rafale to be of sufficient quality. “The twin-engine Rafale features a robust SPECTRA electronic warfare system and a 1 m2 radar trim cross section.”
From this explanation, one of the well-known technology systems on the Rafale which is quite prominent is SPECTRA. Not only SPECTRA, but the Rafale also has a quality radar trim section. The cross section of the radar trim or known as the Radar Cross Section (RCS) of the Rafale is known for its small area.
He explained that if the RCS Rafale is only about 1 square meter, it means that the Rafale can almost be said to be a stealth fighter jet. Although not entirely a stealth fighter jet, the RCS Rafale can almost be said to be of sufficient quality. From the combination of great SPECTRA and quality RCS, it is no wonder that the Rafale is being targeted by many countries.
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Quoted from politicstoday.org, currently there are 8 countries ordering and operating Rafale. Of the 8 countries, it is known that 5 countries have used Rafale fighter jets such as France, India, Qatar, Greece, and Egypt.
Meanwhile, the remaining 3 countries, such as the UAE, Croatia and Indonesia, are currently in the process of ordering the Rafale fighter jet. To find out the history of the procurement of Rafale fighter jets from the French Air Force to Indonesia, the following is an explanation.
After entering service with the French air force and navy the Rafale fighter jet was marketed to many countries. But it did not achieve successful export of the Rafale fighter jets until the mid-2010s due to high costs.
In February 2015 Egypt finally ordered 24 Rafale fighter jets under a €5.2 billion deal with France. In addition, Egypt also ordered a follow-up order for 30 Rafale fighter jets made in 2021, bringing the total number to 54.
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Furthermore, Qatar is the second export customer of the Rafale fighter jet after Egypt. With Qatar's order, the Rafale fighter jet is included in a major modernization effort for the air force. With details of 24 Rafale fighter jets from France followed by 24 Eurofighter Typhoon jets from the UK in 2018.
After Qatar ended up with Rafale fighter jets, India finally ordered 36 Rafales in 2016. The contract for Rafale fighter jets includes options for 110 more jets and the Indian Navy.
It wasn't long before Greece signed a €1.9 billion agreement for 18 Rafale fighter jets in January 2021. Twelve of these aircraft will be delivered as used goods from the French Air Force.
As a result, the decision to buy six additional Rafale fighter jets was announced by the Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis in September 2021. Not to be outdone by Greece, finally the Rafale fighter jet was also ordered by Croatia in November 2021.
Croatia signed an agreement with France for the purchase of 12 used Rafale fighter jets. In addition, the most exciting is that In December if the United Arab Emirates signed a €16 billion contract with Paris for the acquisition of 80 Rafale fighter jets.
And after the UAE, as a result, 42 units of Rafale fighter jets were ordered by Indonesia and made this French defense weapon system the best-selling one. It is suspected that in the future the Rafale fighter jet will be in demand again and ordered by several other countries.
For this reason, countries that use Rafale fighter jets are very lucky to have this advanced defense system. Because with the Rafale fighter jet, all air superiority missions will be carried out properly.