French Air Force Rafale spotted with MQ-9 Reaper UAV Kill Marking

French Air Force Rafale spotted with MQ-9 Reaper UAV Kill Marking

By Dario Leone
Aug 21 2019
Share this article

An interesting marking has been spotted on a French Air Force Rafale fighter indicating it has ‘killed’ an MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle.

An interesting marking has been spotted on a French Air Force Rafale fighter indicating it has ‘killed’ an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

The picture was released by the French Ministry of Armed Forces on Aug. 1 and features the Rafale, with the UAV stencilled next to bomb markings symbolising ground attack missions the fighter has performed. According to Jane’s, the photo appeared to be taken at Jordan’s Prince Hassan Air Base from where French aircraft support the mission against the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria.

More info about the kill marking is provided by Air Forces Monthly which states that the aircraft featured in the shot is Rafale B 322 ‘4-HU’ and it has received markings to denote a ground kill of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in the Middle East.

More specifically the aircraft’s markings represent delivery of eight 500lb (227kg) GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs (LGBs), five AASM (Armement Air-Sol Modulaire) guided munitions and a drone.

Noteworthy a crashed coalition UAV (which was apparently an MQ-9 Reaper based on the marking) was destroyed by the Rafale to avoid its wreckage falling into the hands of IS or other insurgent groups.

While deployed in the Middle East, French Rafale ‘omnirole aircraft’ were engaged on a daily basis for the Coalition, in Iraq as in Syria for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR). Flying days and nights, Rafale’s pilots totally contributed to reduce the military IS potential and to support the ground troops against the terrorist group through oversight and information missions, but also with air strikes.

Photo credit: French Ministry of Armed Forces


Share this article

Dario Leone

Dario Leone

Dario Leone is an aviation, defense and military writer. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviation Geek Club” one of the world’s most read military aviation blogs. His writing has appeared in The National Interest and other news media. He has reported from Europe and flown Super Puma and Cougar helicopters with the Swiss Air Force.

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Share this article


Share this article
Share this article

Always up to date! News and offers delivered directly to you!

Get the best aviation news, stories and features from The Aviation Geek Club in our newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.



    Share this article
    Back to top
    My Agile Privacy
    This website uses technical and profiling cookies. Clicking on "Accept" authorises all profiling cookies. Clicking on "Refuse" or the X will refuse all profiling cookies. By clicking on "Customise" you can select which profiling cookies to activate. We and our selected ad partners can store and/or access information on your device, such as cookies, unique identifiers, browsing data. You can always choose the specific purposes related to profiling by accessing the advertising preferences panel, and you can always withdraw your consent at any time by clicking on "Manage consent" at the bottom of the page.

    List of some possible advertising permissions:

    You can consult: our list of advertising partners, the Cookie Policy and the Privacy Policy.
    Warning: some page functionalities could not work due to your privacy choices