Rafale | Pakistan

Indonesia has received three Rafale fighter jets from France in the first deliveries from a multi-billion dollar defence deal between the two countries, a defence ministry official told Reuters on Monday, marking a major upgrade to the country’s ageing military hardware. Jakarta, France’s main arms client in Southeast Asia, has placed orders for as many as 42 Rafales, built by Dassault Aviation, as well as French frigates and submarines, as the archipelago steps up defence spending under President Prabowo Subianto, a former special forces commander. “The aircraft have been handed over and are ready for use by the Indonesian Air Force, Defence Ministry spokesperson Rico Ricardo Sirait said in a message in response to a Reuters query — the first confirmation that Indonesia has possession of the advanced military aircraft after striking an $8 billion deal with France in 2022 and expanding it last year. Sirait said the three aircraft arrived on Friday and were stationed at Roesmin Nurjadin Air Base in Pekanbaru, ...

France will deploy three Rafale fighter jets to help Poland protect its airspace after this week’s drone incursions into its airspace, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday on X. “The security of the European continent is our top priority. We will not give in to Russia’s increasing intimidation,” he said. A French military official said the warplanes had already been deployed to Poland prior to Tuesday’s incursions. On Tuesday, Poland said it had scrambled aircraft alongside allies to shoot down “hostile objects” violating its airspace during a Russian attack on neighbouring Ukraine, a first for a NATO country during the war. The incursion came as Russia unleashed a barrage of strikes across Ukraine, including in the western city of Lviv, around 50 miles (80 kilometres) from the Polish border. Responding to the accusation, Russia’s foreign ministry claimed that its drones had carried out a major attack on military facilities in western Ukraine but stressed that there were no plans to hit any targe...