French fighter jets arrive in Vietnam for the first time

Thứ Hai, 27/08/2018, 21:13

PSNews - A team of three Rafale fighter aircrafts, an A400M airlifter, a C-135 in-fight refueling tanker and an A310 transport plane is on a visit to Vietnam from August 26 to 29, within the framework of PEGASE.

At the press conference on August 26, French Charge d'Affaires to Vietnam Olivier Sigaud said that, the visit is part of the operation mission PEGASE to launch the world-class air force squadron in the Indo-Pacific Region from August 19 to September 4.

The visit to Vietnam can also be seen as one of the activities to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and 5th anniversary of the strategic partnership between Vietnam and France.

Mr. Olivier Sigaud also said that, during the visit to France in March, Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to strongly promote bilateral relations and cooperation between the two countries, particularly in defense field. France's choosing Vietnam as one of the destinations of its PEGASE has showed that France appreciates the role of Vietnam in ASEAN and Asia-Pacific region.

Head of the PEGASE air force flight, General Patrick Charaix stated that the French Air Force has mobilized 100 crew members for this operation, as well as a formation of three Rafale fighter aircrafts, an A400M airlifter, a C-135 in-fight refueling tanker and an A310 transport plane.

During the visit to Vietnam, the French Air Force flight has planned to meet with local authorities, hold meetings with the flight crew, perform flight shows and invite the public to visit the aircraft.

The French flight has visited Indonesia and Malaysia before it landed Vietnam. Under its schedule, it will go to Singapore, India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after Vietnam.

General Patrick Charaix affirmed that the PEGASE mission aims to strengthen the France's presence in the Asia-Pacific, an important region of strategic interests; and at the same time, to strengthen France's relationship with key strategic partners in the region.

In addition, the mission is to maintain the French Air Force's combat capability, and promote the deployment ability of the French Air Force power and the French aviation defense industry.

The Rafale is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Dassault used the term 'Omni Role' as a marketing term to distinguish this aircraft from other multi-role fighter jets. Dassault also uses this term to indicate the ability to switch functions of Rafale depends on specific missions.

The Rafale is used on both French Air Force ground bases and French aircraft carrier. the aircraft had been introduced at the global aviation market and many countries were interested in it. But there had been no buyers till 2014, when Egypt purchased 24 aircraft and India purchased 36 aircraft.

By An Nhien