Thanks Greg, I appreciate
The wait was not long, here is the Rafale C completed just a few minutes ago
As for most of my what-if, I have of course written a small backstory
Rafale C F1.4+
In the late 1990s, the decision was made to order 10 Rafale C aircraft to the F1 standard, in addition of the 10 Rafale Marine aircraft already planned to the same standard. Their mission will be to immediately reinforce the Mirage 2000-5Fs deployed under a defense agreement in the Federal Republic of Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia) to counter the escalating tensions with Burma, which would continue to grow in the following years.
As these aircraft were at the F1 standard, they did not yet have the Forward Optronics System (OSF), which was still under development.
Starting in 2003, the first five Rafale C aircraft flew from France to their home base in Da-Nang under their own power, demonstrating the Rafale's ability to be rapidly deployed over long distances. The last five aircraft would arrive by sea a few months later, using French Navy resources, thus completing the replacement of the Mirage 2000-5Fs, which will be returned to France in the same manner.
Over the years, these Rafale C F1 were progressively modernized to reach the F1.4+ standard — a version similar to the F2, but without the OSF functionalities.
Their operational service in the Federal Republic of Indochina will end in early 2014, with the arrival of the first Rafale F3.4+. Repatriated to France, they will finally be equipped with the OSF, replacing the ballast that was installed, and upgraded directly to the F3R standard (first aircraft redelivered in 2018), following the process already used by the French Navy and the RFM F1.
The aircraft shown here is the Rafale C104 assigned to 3/30 Lorraine (re-activated for the initial deployment in 2003), during a patrol mission over Laos (from a detachment based in Phônsavan) in the early 2010's, and equipped with 2 x 1250L tanks and 4 Mica EM + 2 IR.
And with the F-104J
