France sends Rafales on 40,000-km global mission to project power from Arctic to Indo-Pacific

France has launched a 40-day global air-power mission, sending Rafale fighter jets on a 40,000-kilometre journey across the Arctic, Indo-Pacific and Middle East in a major demonstration of its long-range military reach and strategic partnerships.According to the Associated Press, the Pegase 26 mission will involve four Rafales supported by three A330 MRTT tanker aircraft, two A400M transport aircraft and around 300 personnel. The deployment will cross three continents and include nine stopovers as French forces train and operate alongside strategic partners.The mission, which began from Istres air base in southern France on September 8, is designed to demonstrate France's ability to rapidly deploy combat aircraft far from its territory while maintaining operations through aerial refuelling and logistical support.French deputy defence minister Alice Rufo said the deployment is also intended to strengthen interoperability with partner countries.“In practical terms, we fly together, we land together, we work together,” Rufo said, adding that forces must be “immediately interoperable” if they are required to respond jointly to a threat.The route of the flightThe French aircrafts will take new northern route toward the Indo-Pacific. The aircraft first flew over the Arctic, passing through Greenland and Canada before reaching Alaska, in what the French military says is the first time the Pegase deployment has used this route.From Alaska, the French aircraft will continue across the Indo-Pacific, with planned stopovers in Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and India. The deployment will then move westward toward the Middle East, with stops in Qatar and Réunion, before concluding in Egypt.Significance of the exerciseThe Arctic leg is a key feature of this year's mission. Pegase 26 commander Gen Julien Sabéné told the Associated Press that it is “the first time we are heading up north, over Greenland, toward Alaska.”He said France needs to explore alternative routes to the Indo-Pacific because “we never know in case we need to go in the Indo-Pacific region,” adding that the northern corridor provides “another option, going up north.”The exercise comes six months after President Emmanuel Macron offered to discuss extending France's nuclear deterrence umbrella to European partners amid concerns over US security commitments.According to he Associated Press, Pegase 26 is not a nuclear exercise, but some Rafale variants can carry nuclear-armed missiles, while pilots from France's strategic air force are participating. The fighters are carrying only mock conventional weapons during the mission.