Indonesia reported to have signed contract to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets.

According to information published by Defense Studies on June 13, 2021, Indonesia is reported to have signed a contract to buy 36 French Dassault Rafale fighter jets.

Follow Air Recognition on Google News at this link

Rafale fighter jet (Picture source: Dassault Aviation)

Some of the details are still being discussed regarding the sale even if Florence Parly would have come to Indonesia to sign the initial contract.

The Rafale is a twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by the French company Dassault Aviation. It was primarily developed for the French Air Force and Navy. The first fighter aircraft entered service with the French Navy in 2004 and the French Air Force in 2006.

The aircraft can be used as an attack or bomber. It can be armed with different types of weapons including Mica, Magic, Sidewinder, ASRAAM and AMRAAM air-to-air missiles as well as Apache, AS30L, ALARM, HARM, Maverick, and PGM100 air-to-ground missiles and Exocet / AM39, Penguin 3 and Harpoon anti-ship missiles. It is also armed with a twin-gun pod and a Nexter 30mm DEFA 791B cannon and laser designation pods for laser guidance of air-to-ground missiles.

The Rafale is powered by two Snecma M88-2 turbofans, 50.04 kN (11,250 lbf) thrust each dry, 75 kN (17,000 lbf) with afterburner. It has a gross weight of 15,000 kg and a maximum takeoff weight of 24,500 kg. It can fly at a maximum speed of 2,223 km/h with a maximum combat range of 1,850 km.