France, Sept. 13 -- The Pegase 26 exercise will take the aircraft on a 40,000-kilometre journey from the Arctic to the tropics and the Middle East, with nine stopovers before the mission concludes in Egypt.

The two single-seater and two twin-seater Rafales departed Istres air base in southern France on Tuesday, supported by three refuelling aircraft, two transport planes and around 300 personnel. The operation, which took almost a year to prepare, is being overseen from a headquarters near Lyon.

French officials say the exercise is designed to demonstrate the country's capacity to defend its distant territories and support allies, while improving cooperation with strategic partners including Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and India.

"In...