'European Friends, Rafale Is Calling': Emmanuel Macron Gives Call To 'Secure Europe', Pushes For F-35 Alternative

French President Emmanuel Macron, in a cryptic post on X, pushed for Rafale fighter jets as an alternative to American-made aircraft, urging European allies to make a choice.

He shared a photo on the micro-blogging platform showing a screengrab of an iPhone like caller screen featuring an image of the Rafale jet, captioned “Rafale is calling.”

This isn’t the first time the French President has advocated for the domestically produced Rafale.

Back in March, Macron had stated, “We must offer European alternatives to countries accustomed to American equipment,” during an interview with French newspapers.

Dassault Aviation and the French defence industry are planning to step up their presence in air combat dominance with the development of the Rafale F5 fighter jet.

The next-generation Rafale F5 is being specifically designed to compete with the United States’ F-35, featuring the ASN4G hypersonic nuclear missile and other advanced weaponry.

British Royal Navy F-35B emergency landing in Kerala 

On June 14, US-made British Royal Navy fighter jet F-35B, made an emergency landing in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The fighter jet since then has been grounded and not able to flew.

Though the Indian Air Force tried helping the grounded plane by refuelling but the aircraft is still out of service.

Reports have said that a team of technical professionals from UK will arrive in India who will review the fighter jets condition and likely the aircraft will be airlifted back to Britain.

The technical issues with F-35 and its breakdown has raised questions on its dominance in the fighter jet portfolios, currently existing in the world.

India in September 2016, signed an agreement with France to purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets for $8.8 billion. France delivered all 36 Rafale jets to New Delhi in multiple instalments.