On 13 January 2009 three Rafales from the escadron de chasse 1/7 " Provence " based at St Dizier (BA 113 " Commandant Antoine de Saint Exupéry ") flew into Kandahar in Afghanistan after a seven-hour flight, one of the longest then undertaken by the Rafale.....once in theatre some 20 missions/week were flown, 'convoy surveillance', 'TICs' ('troupes au combat') in support of ground forces in contact and the so-called 'show of force' high speed low passes ( 500 knots at 200 feet) to keep heads down. The Rafales carried four laser-guided bombs and the Damocles target-designating pod and deployed on-board cannon. Missions such as the one described by 'Capitaine R.' in the French Defence ministry video below could last up to five hours and involve several refuellings. Up until his deployment 'Capitaine R' had only fired the Rafale's cannon twice!.. The French Mirage 2000D and Rafales were withdrawn in December 2011...
Capitaine Romain published his 229-page account (in French) of the Rafale's time in Afghanistan in an e-book currently available on amazon for less than one euro and he describes some of his activities in the video below..short translated extracts to follow
Afghanistan : 3 Rafale à Kandahar by ministeredeladefense
