On June 5, the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, presided over the welcoming ceremony for the first five Dassault Rafale aircraft of the Qatar Emiri Air Force (QEAF) at Dukhan Air Base.
The aircraft were flown non-stop from Bordeaux-Merignac with the support of an A330MRT tanker of the Armeé del Air (AdlA) and form the nucleus of the “Al Adiyat” squadron. The first formal handover already took place in France in February (Militär Aktuell reported), while a large group of pilots and technicians were trained by AdlA and Dassault. According to the manufacturer, delivery will begin “on schedule” after the contract for the purchase of 24 Rafale by Qatar was signed in May 2015. A further twelve aircraft were ordered in December 2017. Prior to the Rafale, Qatar was already a customer of Dassault Aviation with the Mirage F.1, the Alpha Jet and the Mirage-2000.
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