NEW DELHI :
FOUR Rafale fighter aircraft
of the Indian Air Force
(IAF)carried out a “strategic”
mission over the Indian
Ocean Region (IOR) for over
six hours, in a significant
demonstration of their longrange combat capabilities,
people familiar with the
operation said on
Wednesday.
The jets took off from the
Hasimara Air Force station
in the eastern sector, carried
out the mission involving
various manoeuvres and
simulated operations and
returned to the base after
meeting the desired results,
they said.
The IAF carried out the
mission at a time China has
been ramping up its presence in the Indian Ocean
region, which is largely considered as the backyard of
the Indian Navy.
The people cited said, the
mission by the four Rafale
jets demonstrated their
operational capabilities and
readiness in dealing with
various challenging situations. Without divulging the
day of the operation, they
cited above
said it was
carried out
very recently.
The IAF also tweeted
about the mission.
“Four IAF Rafales flew a
long range mission for over
six hours into the IOR. The
aircraft ‘fought’ their way
through a large force
engagement en route to
their Weapon Release Point.
Pickle on time, weapon on
target-the IAF way!” it said.
The IAF too did not
divulge the
day of the
operation. The
Rafale jets are
India’s first major acquisition of fighter planes in 23
year after the Sukhoi jets
were imported from Russia.
The Rafale jets are capable
of carrying a range of potent
weapons.