Jan. 13 saw the first involvement of the Rafale combat planes in the French air campaign in Mali. Four “omnirole” jets from Saint Dizier airbase, took off from their
base and, supported by two C-135FR tankers, attacked rebel’s training
camps, infrastructure, logistic deposits before recovering to N’Djamena
airbase, in Chad.
Most probably, the aircraft crossed the Algerian airspace on their
way to Mali, since Algeria has authorized unlimited access to fly over
its territory. The Rafales carried three fuel tanks, six GBU-49 5(00-lb Enhanced Paveway II
GPS/INS-equipped GBU-12/B Laser Guided Bomb variants) or six AASM
(Armement Air-Sol Modulaire – Air-to-Ground Modular Weapon) along with
the Damocles pod.
According to the Rafale News blog,
this was the first time that the Rafale used the dual mode (laser/GPS)
GBU-49 guided bomb during a war mission as the intergration of this kind
of weapon was only recently completed.
As per the video released by the French MoD after the raid and showing
the four jets landing in Chad at the end of their strike mission, 21
weapons were released during the attack, since one of the jets still has
three of its six AASM.
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