Egyptian Rafale File Photo Egyptian Dassault Rafale fighter jets marked their combat debut on last Friday, when they flew their maiden ...
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| Egyptian Rafale File Photo |
Egyptian Air Force Lockheed Martin F-16 C/D Block 52 aircraft and Dassault Rafale fighter jets took part in the revenge strikes against ISIS targets following a deadly attack on Egyptian Coptic Christians.
The Day/Night mission involved six air strike missions against ISIS training camps near Derna, Libya, where the attackers where alleged to have trained.
The mission with a approximate one way aerial distance of 900 km (560 miles) flew from Cairo West Air Base and also involved Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeye airborne tactical early warning aircraft.
The Rafale were tasked to provide air cover to the F-16 fighters jets, armed with MBDA MICA IR and MICA EM air to air missiles along with three external fuel tanks of 2000 liters (530 US Gallon) each.
The ground strikes were carried out by F-16 jets, each carrying either a pair of GBU laser guided bombs or Mk 82 unguided general purpose bombs. They were also carrying three external fuel tanks in-addition to two in-built conformal fuel tanks (CFT), each capable of holding 450 US gallons (1,703.4 L).
Egypt became the first export customer of French Rafale fighter jets in 2015. 24 Rafale were ordered of which 9 have been delivered. The third batch of three Rafale jets were delivered early this year.
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| An Egypt Air Force F-16 taking off for the mission |
