Academy 12346 1/48 Rafale C "EC 1/7 Provence 2012"

Dassault Rafale

in service
French
twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft
Rafale B - two-seater version for French Air Force
Rafale C - single-seat version for French Air Force
Rafale M - carrier-borne version of Rafale C, entered service in 2001. Rafale M has a strengthened airframe, longer nose gear leg to provide a more nose-up attitude, larger tailhook between the engines, and a built-in boarding ladder.
All 180 French Rafale B, C, and M models will be upgraded to variant F4.1 in 2022 and F4.2 in 2027.

Currently 36,000 French troops deployed in foreign territories - such operations are known as "OPEX" for Opérations Extérieures ("External Operations").

Opération Harmattan - the French participation in the 2011 military intervention in Libya.
French Dassault Rafale multirole fighters began reconnaissance missions on 19 March 2011 and were the first among the coalition to attack Libyan forces, destroying four tanks. (based at Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily, Italy & Aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R91)

Escadron de Chasse 1/7 Provence (EC 1/7 Provence) - Jaguars were retired in July 2005 and replaced by Dassault Rafale in 2006. In January 2007 1/7 Provence had twenty Rafale B and C. In March 2007 three Rafales were deployed to Dushanbe in Tajikistan, and carried out their first patrol over Afghanistan two days later.