French Jet Fighters Exhibit Flying Skills over Jakarta
24 March 2015 11:22 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Two Rafale jet fighters aircraft, which were manufactured by Dassault Aviation, exhibited their flying skill and ability of maneuvering in front of the Indonesian Defense Ministry, the National Military HQ, and the Air Force. The French aircraft arrived in Indonesia yesterday at the Halim Perdanakusuma airbase.
"There were two Rafale arrived at Halim. A one-seated plane and a two-seated plane," said Air Commodore Hadi Tjahjanto, Chief of the Air Force Information Office, when contacted by Tempo, on Tuesday, March 24, 2015.
Before arriving, said Hadi, the Rafale aircraft followed the 2015 Langkawi International Maritime & Aerospace in Malaysia. Before going home to France, they stopped by at Indonesia first.
According to Hadi, aside from their flying skill exhibition, the Rafale aircraft were also being promoted to the Indonesian government. The Dassault Aviation company knew that the Indonesia Military wants to replace their old F-5 Tiger with new jet fighters. The Indonesian Military also set eyes on the Rafale aircraft to be the candidate for their jet fighters replacement, along with Sukhoi SU-35, F-16 Block 60, Jas SAAB Gripen, and Eurofighter Typhoon.
As planned, the Rafale jet fighters will be flying above Jakarta until Thursday, March 26, 2015. Rafale representatives will also represent the technical capabilities of the fighters towards the Defense Ministry officials.
Dassault Rafale is a 4.5 generation jet fighter which has a unique design. It has a pair of triangle-shaped wings, commonly known as 'delta wing'.
The fighter has two canards, or little wings, which are located near the cockpit. It is equipped with two Snecma M88-2 jet machines which could bolt the fighter to a maximum speed of 1,900 kilometer per hour.
INDRA WIJAYA