00:00Well, so far it's been extremely good.
00:03As you know, we know each other for a long time now.
00:07The Indian Air Force has had French equipment since the 50s, 1952 with the Auragan.
00:13Now the Indian Air Force has had the Rafale for quite a few years now, and it's great
00:18because we can exchange best practices.
00:22Indian Air Force has flown the Rafale in combat, and so have we.
00:27So combat lessons learned are really interesting, and those are the ones you can exchange when
00:34you do such a large force engagement exercise like Tarong Shakti.
00:38So for us, we have seen a great interoperability between the Rafale, but not only, we've also
00:45seen we can refuel from your tankers and vice versa.
00:50So we operate, we brought seven Rafale, but also we brought three MRTTs and two F-100M.
00:57And this morning I was flying as an observer on an F-100M providing air-to-air refueling
01:03for Rafale.
01:03And it worked like a champ.
01:05Great question.
01:05Well, how has your experience been of the exercise that I'm expecting?
01:10First, so it's my first time in India.
01:12So I discovered your country's gigantic.
01:15Your Air Force has a large inventory with many different types of aircraft, so we learn
01:22a lot.
01:23But actually, for us, this exercise is the highlight of Pegas 26.
01:29So we flew 30,000 kilometers from France.
01:32The other way around, because we are a nation of the Indo-Pacific with citizens overseas territory,
01:39but we arrived here on time to be there for the beginning of an exercise Tarong Shakti.
01:45The launching was perfect.
01:48We were well welcomed.
01:49And we've met many different players, including international players.
01:54And I found the Indian Air Force did a wonderful organization work to have everything ready
02:00on time.
02:01Thanks.
02:02How was your experience flying with the F-35 Sukhoi and India Stasers?
02:06Well, so far it's been quite interesting.
02:09Throughout the Pegas 26, this is not the first time we fly with the F-35.
02:17We were flying with them in Alaska as well.
02:19But the Tejas, it's new.
02:22I like it because it reminds me of the Mirage 1000, which was my aircraft when I was an active
02:31fighter pilot in the French Air Force.
02:33As a sovereign nation, France is like India.
02:41And I found it great that Indian Air Force has been, India has been able to develop its
02:48own fighters, its Indian fighters, and to fly it on its own.
02:54So, so far the interconnections between the two aircraft have been quite well.
03:00So we continue to develop interoperability with different equipments.
03:05But the most important part is also knowing each other.
03:08So knowing the air crews, and this is something we can do here in Jodhpur, where the air crew
03:15can meet and talk about the aircraft and best practices to be better together.
03:21Sir, talk to us about Pegas 26, what has been key highlights of the mission?
03:25Well, the highlights of the mission, we've had five stops so far in different countries,
03:31but stopping here for exercise, Townshakty was the highlight for us.
03:35Because it's a true multinational ambitious exercise that gives us the best training to
03:42be ready for the next type of war.
03:45The challenges is we've come a long way.
03:49We had to face some weather, the different environment, Arctic, tropical desert.
03:55And this has been busy for us, tiring for not so much for the aircraft, which perform flawlessly
04:02for the bodies a little bit, but we've been welcomed so well by our Indian friends that
04:07we feel at home.
04:09Thank you so much, sir.
04:10Thank you, ma'am.
04:12Thank you so much.
04:13It was a great interview.
04:14Pleasure to speak with you.
04:15It was a pleasure to speak with you.
04:17Okay, I have nothing on me.
04:17Thank you, ma'am.
