Purpose of Rafale is to hit Pakistani aircraft inside Pakistani air space: Former IAS Chief BS Dhanoa

Former Chief of Air Staff Marshal BS Dhanoa said on Sunday that the purpose of Rafale and S-400 missile system is to hit Pakistani aircraft inside Pakistani air space, and not when they come inside the Indian territory.

He said that the Rafale jets along with S-400 missile systems will give the Indian Air Force an edge over their enemies, forcing them to think twice before waging war with India.

It's biggest strategic advantage lies in aerial combat with China over mountainous Tibet region. He said that the fleet will be able to use the terrain to its advantage, destroy enemy air defence, and incapacitate the surface-to-air missiles.

Dhanoa also said that the Rafales being supplied to the IAF are much more advanced than the ones being used by the French Air Force.

"Rafale has got a fantastic Electronic Warfare (EW) suite (SPECTRA), fantastic weapons, and therefore are capable of protecting themselves electronically besides being able to use the terrain to their advantage," Dhanoa said.

"So they (Rafales) can play an important role in doing DEAD (Destruction of Enemy Air Defence) on the Surface-to-Air Missiles that the Chinese have put on Tibet. "Once you take out those surface to air missiles, then other aircraft like Su30, Jaguars, even Mig 21s can go out and drop the bombs on the Chinese forces. The strike aircraft carrying bombs can put tonnes and tonnes of bombs on the enemy troops, freely carrying out their mission. But if you do not do DEAD then you will suffer a lot of casualties," he added. 

Dhanoa also said that the Rafales supplied to India is far superior than J-20 fighter jets of China in a beyond visual range (BVR) combat.  he said the Chinese aircraft is not stealthy and presently, with its current engines, cannot supercruise unlike the newly-acquired Indian fleet.  

The first five Indian Air Force (IAF) Rafale aircraft arrived at Air Force Station, Ambala on Wednesday. The aircraft got airborne from Dassault Aviation Facility, Merignac, France on the morning of July 27 and reached India with a planned stopover en-route at Al Dhafra airbase in the UAE.

A formal induction ceremony of Rafale aircraft in 17 Squadron is scheduled to be held in the second half of August 2020, the Indian Air Force said.

The acquisition of the Rafale aircrafts has irked Islamabad.

In a weekly press briefing, Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui termed the Indian Air Force's (IAF) acquisition of Rafale jets as New Delhi's "disproportionate arms build-up".

"The world community must dissuade India from its disproportionate arms build-up, which could also lead to an arms race in South Asia," said Farooqui.