Cavalier India Defence Training Academy

Rafale carries a beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile Meteor with a range of more than 100 km, the potent SCALP cruise missile and the Hammer precision-guided ammunition. Faced with the prospect of an adversary on both western and eastern fronts, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has got the French manufacturer to re-calibrate the software of Rafale fighter jet’s SCALP long-range air-launched cruise missile to ensure that the subsonic weapon hits targets up to 4,000 metres above sea level. The subsonic missile with a range in excess of 300 kilometres and a 450-kilogramme warhead is part of the weapon suite on Rafale Omni-role fighter of the IAF. In simple terms, it means that the IAF’s Rafale can demolish targets located in mountains and high plateaus at 4,000 metres instead of the previous calibration of 2,000 metres. The tweaking of the software has been done by the missile manufacturer MBDA in consultation with the top brass of IAF. While the next batch of three Rafale fighters are expec...