Kirruth
Active member
"Five years after the French Navy received its first aircraft, the Dassault Aviation Rafale fighter has entered French air force service, with the first squadron inaugurated on Tuesday...
Two fighter squadrons based at Saint-Dizier [near Paris] will operate the Rafale including 1/7 Sqn Provence that took the official hand-over, plus a further unit based at Mont-de-Marsan near Marseilles for pilot training. The sqadron has now taken delivery of 10 Rafales, and will receive a further 10 by the end of the year, when it will attain its full operational strength.
Six further Rafale squadrons will receive the aircraft by 2020. The air forces has ordered 82 aircraft (44 single-seaters and 38 two-seaters) to date, with a further 38 ordered by the French navy. The total requirment for the French military is currently 234. The Rafales will replace 1/7 Sqn’s Sepecat GR3 JaguarA/Es."
Full article (with some great pictures) included here:
http://www.flightglobal.com/Articles/2006/06/30/Navigation/177/207538/Pictures+First+French+air+force+Rafale+sqaudron+operational,+Patrouille+de+France.html
or
http://tinyurl.com/sxmrs
Speaking personally, I find it a very interesting aircraft: developed by a single country, unlike the multi-country initiatives which are now the norm; a genuine multi-role machine, compared to the specialist ground-attack or air superiority systems now the norm. But I am biased: ever since I saw a flight of the old Mirage aircraft training over Marseilles, doing all kinds of stuff in the sky, I've admired French military aviation.
Two fighter squadrons based at Saint-Dizier [near Paris] will operate the Rafale including 1/7 Sqn Provence that took the official hand-over, plus a further unit based at Mont-de-Marsan near Marseilles for pilot training. The sqadron has now taken delivery of 10 Rafales, and will receive a further 10 by the end of the year, when it will attain its full operational strength.
Six further Rafale squadrons will receive the aircraft by 2020. The air forces has ordered 82 aircraft (44 single-seaters and 38 two-seaters) to date, with a further 38 ordered by the French navy. The total requirment for the French military is currently 234. The Rafales will replace 1/7 Sqn’s Sepecat GR3 JaguarA/Es."
Full article (with some great pictures) included here:
http://www.flightglobal.com/Articles/2006/06/30/Navigation/177/207538/Pictures+First+French+air+force+Rafale+sqaudron+operational,+Patrouille+de+France.html
or
http://tinyurl.com/sxmrs
Speaking personally, I find it a very interesting aircraft: developed by a single country, unlike the multi-country initiatives which are now the norm; a genuine multi-role machine, compared to the specialist ground-attack or air superiority systems now the norm. But I am biased: ever since I saw a flight of the old Mirage aircraft training over Marseilles, doing all kinds of stuff in the sky, I've admired French military aviation.