IAF’s Omnirole Rafales
In ‘Eastern Front Airpower’, Season 2, our second episode is on the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) omnirole Rafales. Group Captain Abhishek Tripathi, Commanding Officer (CO) of the 101 Squadron (Sqn) at the Hasimara Air Force Station (AFS) in the Eastern Air Command (EAC) is in conversation with StratNews Global‘s Amitabh P. Revi. In the runup to and beyond Air Force Day on October 8, 2024, StratNews Global brings you our next series of on-the-ground interviews and documentaries from the IAF’s EAC. The SNG team of Amitabh, Rohit Pandita and Aryaman Singh Negi travel to film this interview at the AFS Hasimara.
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Commanding Officer, 101 Squadron
Group Captain Abhishek Tripathi, the current CO, 101 Squadron has been “part of the initial batch of the (Rafale) aircrew, and part of the fleet since its induction”. His “duty is that the Falcon squadron is always ready to take on any task, whenever called upon, across the spectrum. And, to keep the cutting edge sharp”. Sitting in his cockpit, he proudly tells us, “the Rafale is a state of the art, modern fighter aircraft and its unique characteristics provide it an edge over other, modern fighters in the world. The aircraft is extremely versatile. It has highly advanced avionics as well as a very good AEW system. And, the aircraft has got extremely good maneuverability and agility in air. Most importantly, this aircraft is capable of precisely delivering air to air as well as air to ground weapons as and when they are required to do so”.
‘Seek And Destroy’
101 Squadron has come a long way from the Harvard aircraft it first flew. But, the squadron crest, which has a falcon and the motto of ‘Anwishyavedhi’, which translates into seek and destroy perfectly exemplifies its current role too. Group Capt Tripathi outlines the different roles the Rafale can be utilised for. “The role of the aircraft is primarily air-to-air, that is, aerial defence as well as offensive air-to-air roles. And it also can carry out air-to-surface tasks. It can deliver precise munitions and long range weapons. It is an all-weather aircraft which can fly and carry out all these missions both in day as well as, night. The Rafale also has air-to-air refueling capability by day and night.
Rafale’s Roles & Range
The CO has “flown for extensive durations. So the missions can be complex and can be very, very elaborate. At times, the roles are also related to electronic warfare and intelligence gathering. So as and when the situation arises, the Air Force and the squadron are flexible enough to switch roles and tasks even in the air”.
Group Captain Tripathi also discusses:
- The commanding officer’s role.
- The Rafales as a combat platform.
- 101 Squadron’s history and current role.
- How Rafales are integrated with other IAF platforms.
- Its role as an omnirole fighter.
- Synergy between human and machine.
- Rafale’s radar, electronic warfare and weapons integration.
- Capabilities in a ground attack role and in countering drones.
- and India specific enhancements.
Eastern Front Airpower
In Eastern Front AirPower, Season 2, Part 1, we spoke to Air Marshal S.P. Dharkar, the then Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), EAC. On October 3, 2024 he took over as the Vice Chief of the Air Force. You can also click to catch Season 1 here. The episode from the Tezpur AFS in Season 1 has over one million views.
