Pictures : M88-2 being changed

Found on Ilvolo.it forum : a nice set of pictures showing the setup to change the SNECMA M88-2 engine. They were taken last year at the St Dizier Airbase, nest of the Rafale squadron EC 1.7 Provence.

Rafale and Eurofighter selected by the Indian Airforce ?!

According to the Indian channel  TIMESHOW.TV, the Indian Air Force would have selected the Dassault Rafale and the Eurogihter Typhoon for the final run of the MMRCA competition :




The article states that :

"Despite MiG 35s big thunder, its engine failing to impress while the F-16, according to the IAF has no future. Another reason favouring Rafale and Eurofighter is political. Thomas Matussek, German Ambassador, “We regard India as a strategic security partner and this is why we do not insist on an end user monitoring agreement period.” So when the mother of all defence deals is signed for the 126 Multi-Role Combat Aircraft either Rafale or the Eurofighter will fly away with the Rs 42,000 crore deal."

If this short list is confirmed by the Indian governement, it will be the first time that the 2 european fighters will meet in the final of a contest.
In Korea, Singapore and Brazil , the Tyhoon was eliminated  before the Rafale.
In Saudi Arabia, the Typhoon was selected witout a competition (despite french president Jacques Chirac pressures to sell the Rafale).

On a pure technical point of view, both aircrafts are very similar. The Eurofighter is often believed to be a better Air 2 Air machine while the Rafale would be a more versatile fighter jet with the ability to perform air to ground and air to air attacks simultaneously.
However, recent international exercices would have proven the Rafale to be more than a match for the Typhoon in both ACM (Air Combat maneuvering) and BVR (Beyong Visual Range). The key points of the Rafale advantage over its european brother would be

• a better RCS (radar cross section)
• a sensor fusion system allowing a better situational awareness in complex BVR engagements
• The TV sensor of the SFO  allowing long range identification
• The SPECTRA ECM suite allowing passive targeting and missile guidance
• The mica passive IIR BVR missile

Discuss on the Rafale Internation Forum

Rafale vs Raptor : What really happened during ATLC 2009 ?

9 months after the international exercice (ATLC) that took place in the United Arabe Emirates, Jon Lake exposes the point of view of the Major John Rogers, project officer for the F-22 deployment.

The USAF refused to comment directly about the French claims, though the 27th Fighter Squadron’s project officer for the F-22 deployment, Major John Rogers, told Arabian Aerospace: “I don’t remember the fights quite that way. In any case, we leave claims and counter-claims to the debrief.” [...]

"For these training missions, the F-22As flew only within visual range 1 vs 1 BFM (Basic Fighter Manoeuvring) sorties, and did so carrying under-wing fuel tank [...]"

 Major John Rojers brings 2 points on the table :

• He doesn't aknowlege the claims of Lt Colonnel Granclaudon.but remains very elusive on what really happened between the Rafale and the Raptor.
• The F-22 were dogfighting with external tanks reducing their maneuvering capabilities.

Why majors Rojers seems to be embarassed about Granclaudon's Rafale vs Raptor report ? After all, the french officer does not claim any victory over the F-22.
It's just like if the fact that the raptor was not able to squash the french fighter was perceaved as a defeat by the US staff... therefore the attempt to explain the lack of "dominance" by strange excuses.

Fortunaltly, the french weekly Air and Cosmos released a very instructive pictures to illustrate the rafale vs F-22 dogfights :
 
This image of a F-22 was taken by the SFO of a Rafale : The Raptor is obviously maneuvering hard in the vertical plane  (noise up and post combution on) to catch up with an inverted rafale pulling G toward the ground. The F-22 is clearly not in a position for a gun or a fox2 kill.
As all the targeting data have been removed,  it is also impossible to tell if the rafale has the upper hand : The SFO has a high of boresight capability, therefore the rafale probably took this picture without being able to get valid gun shot on the F-22. in addition, the big red cross could indicate that the F-22 is too close for a mica IR shot (which is less than 500m).
But the most interresting detail of this picture, is that the Raptor is not carrying any external tank despite what Mr Lake says in his article. ;)

MMRCA rumors : rafale at the top ?

Do the indian and Brazilian air forces converging to the same conclusions ?
According to Mr Pepe Rezende, yes, definitely. The man is a former Brazilian journalist currently working for the Brazilian Senate's Foreign Affairs and National Defence Committee.
He recently shoke the aviation forums by revealing hard facts detailed in the brasilian air force repport for FX-2 contest. his motivation was apparently to stop some false rumors on this repport.

So what all this has to do with the indian competition. Well, it seem that Mr Rezende had the opportunity to talk with some indian air force officials about the MMRCA trials : The Rafale would have won the technical evaluation by succeding in all the tests asked by the IAF :

Mr Rezende :

"Rafale WON the performance tests. It completed all IAF missions using only half of F/A-18E/F flights. Rafale destroyed a target 50km far with a 2 meters margin of error. At performance point of view, it won all bidders, including in AtoA missions but, in my opinion, your [indian] choice will be a political one favouring Boeing."

Rafale C101 drops an AASM smart bomb

It is very likely that the 50km range strike he reffers to was a test using the AASM-IR smart bomb.

It is also interresting to note that the Rafale would have [once again] outperformed the typhoon during the Air to air trials : The planes sent to India were fitted with the brand new Thales AESA RBE-2AA which seems to work rather well against air targets.






He also wrote on Keypublishing about the Leh high altitude trials :

"According Indian officers, two planes failed: MiG35 and F/A-18E/F. Gripen Demo takes off with the required load (only two tanks, four air-to-air missiles and a cargo of 1900kg bombs). Typhoon and Rafale takes off with full cargo but EADS bidder failed at some attack missions"

Leh is the highest commercial airfield (3000 m) thus some aircraft can have difficulties to power their engine(s) on.

India MMRCA short list to be revealed soon

After almost one year of evaluation of the 6 contenders (F-/18E, Rafale, F-16IN, Gripen C/D/demo, Mig-35 and Typhoon, India is expected to release soon a short list with the fighters that will be allowed to participate in the final round of the contest.

So far, no info was leaked on the aircraft(s) that could be eliminated.






My best guess is :

• at least one US aircraft is in the short list
• at least one euro-canard does not make it and it is not the rafale :)
• I would also bet on the Mig elimination

Brasil FX-2 contest

Some news about Brazil Decision from www.correiobraziliense.com. The rafale still have the lead but there is little chance that the contract will be signed before october and the end of the brazilian elections.

interactive Comparison of the 3 contenders

2 good rafale Videos I had missed

First : Rafale M01 and M02 trials caimpaign on the Foch. Note Eric Gerard, Dassault test pilot without his legendary beard :)



Second : nice montage of french navy footage shot before 2007