What are the opportunities for Rafale fighters in Vietnam?
According to the French Embassy in Vietnam, three Rafales and other French aircraft will arrive in Vietnam at the end of August 2018 in the PEGASE campaign.
Specifically, on August 26-29, France will deploy a flight formation of three Rafale fighter jets, an A400M transport aircraft, a C-135 transport aircraft and an A310 aircraft to visit Vietnam. The French side plans to work with relevant agencies to introduce the flight formation, perform demonstration flights and welcome the public.
This is an activity within the framework of the PEGASE (Paramount Air Force Deployment in Southeast Asia) campaign in the Asia-Pacific region, taking place after the Pitch-Black exercise from July 27 to August 17 of France in Australia.
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| Vietnamese delegation visits Rafale fighter jets at LIMA 2017 Exhibition. |
Not only taking place in Vietnam, the French Air Force also visited Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and India. France mobilized up to 100 crew members for the campaign, led by General Patrick Charaix.
Although this is only an activity within the PEGASE campaign, it also creates more opportunities for this fighter to be present in Vietnam.
Before this information appeared, Reuters reported that in 2016, Vietnam had conducted preliminary negotiations with the French Dassault Group about purchasing Rafale fighter jets.
This is the latest time Reuters has reported on Vietnam negotiating to buy Western aircraft. In January 2016, the news agency also reported that Vietnam was negotiating to buy French Rafale aircraft and Gripen to replace its retired MiG-21 fleet.
However, National Interest magazine believes that in case of choosing French Rafale, Vietnam may encounter difficulties in the purchasing and using process.
According to the American magazine, Rafale is a 4.5 generation twin-engine, delta-wing multirole fighter aircraft manufactured by Dassault Aviation of France. This is also the most modern fighter currently used by the French Air Force.
The aircraft is equipped with the most modern avionics systems in the world today, especially the RBE2 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar capable of detecting stealth aircraft, along with the Spectra electronic warfare system, which is advertised to help the Rafale operate safely under enemy air defense fire.
With a superior aerodynamic design and the support of the canards, the Rafale can perform sudden turns in tight spaces. When maneuvering at supersonic speeds, the air passing over the wings will be compressed and create a curtain-like effect. The Rafale can also perform the "cobra" maneuver with the engine almost inactive.
Despite its modest size: 15.27m long; 10.8m wingspan; 5.34m high; empty weight 9,060 kg, Rafale is capable of carrying up to 9.5 tons of weapons including: air-to-air, air-to-ground, anti-radar, air-to-ship missiles, guided aviation bombs; operating range reaches 1,800 km.
Although Rafale has good combat capabilities and can be said to be number 1 among current 4.5 generation fighters, its disadvantage is its extremely high cost, up to over 100 million USD/unit, twice that of Su-30MK2.
