On 3 July 2019, the qatari air force's second batch of five brand new rafales fighters left Mérignac Airport in Bordeaux, France, and began flying to Tamim Air Base in Qatar. The Rafale fighters delivered two two-seat DQ aircraft, numbered QA202 and QA203, and three single-seat EQ aircraft, numbered QA217, QA219 and QA221. In addition, a Qatari Air Force C-17A Global Overlord III strategic transport aircraft also flew to Qatar with five Rafale fighters.
The first five Rafale fighters arrived in Qatar on June 5 for official delivery. This also shows that although the pre-delivery time is relatively slow, the delivery of the contract begins 4 years after the signing of the contract. But as production capacity increased, Dassault significantly accelerated the delivery of fighter jets.
In order to gain political support from the United States and Europe, Qatar has purchased 36 new F-15QA, 36 Rafale fighters and 24 Typhoon fighters from the United States, France and the United Kingdom. On the one hand, it is to enhance the combat strength of the Qatari Air Force, and on the other hand, it is to rely on the United States and Europe to resist the pressure from other countries in the Middle East.
In 2017, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and other Middle Eastern countries issued statements to sever diplomatic relations with Qatar, citing Qatar's ties to terrorist organizations. In order to cope with this crisis situation, the only thing Qatar can do is to co-opt major powers such as the United States and Europe to support itself. And the best way is to spend a lot of money to purchase the fighters of these powers.
The second batch of Rafale fighters delivered to Qatar by Dassault is preparing to fly to an air base in Qatar itself.
The Rafale fighters delivered this time, like the first batch, were the same as 5. As a result, the Qatari Air Force already has a total of 10 Rafale fighters.