In the Press, France's Rafale fighter proves its 'omnirole' skills

Flight Global's report on the Rafale program status by Creg Hoyle :

"France's Rafale fighter programme is midway through what could be a pivotal year in the Dassault type's potentially half-century service history. Already involved in NATO-led combat operations over Libya, the aircraft will return to frontline duty in Afghanistan inside the next two months. Its industrial backers are, meanwhile, edging seemingly closer to a long-awaited first export sale". [...]

Read the whole article on Flight Global web site

Rafale pictures of the day

Rafale C121 - ©R. Bergmann - Tiger Meet May 16, 2011

Rafale M24 and M16 ©Hervé Cariou - June 2010

Rafale M16, full burner ©Hervé Cariou - June 2010

Air and Cosmos insight on the future Rafale

This week issue of Air and Cosmos magazine brings some additional  information regarding the future development path of the Rafale.

First, the radar : the current RBE-2 AESA provides 10° more azimut coverage compared to the PESA version (70° vs 60°) and an increased range of more than 40%
In order to meet the UAE requirement,  the power output will be increased from 9.6 kW to 14 kW by changing the cooling pomp. This should provide an additional 10% range bonus.

About the Engine : The M88-4E which is replacing the M88-2, consists in a new high pressure turbine and compressor to give an impressive 40 to 50% better life span compared to its predecessor. First bench-tested in September 2009, the M88-4E made its first flight on March 22nd 2010. 70 inflight tests were planed for 2010 and the new engine development is now almost complete. A progressive upgrade of all the M88-2 in service in the French Air Force and Navy in planned as the M88-4E production will ramp up

M88-4E on the test bench - ©SAFRAN/SNECMA

The UAE derivative of the M88-4E, called M88-9, will reach 9 tonnes of thrust by increasing the entering airflow from 65 kg/s to 72 kg/s as well as the compression rate from 24.5 to 27. As already said, this engine requires the air intake to be enlarged which is (was ?) a major blocking point in the negotiations with the UAE : Such a structural modification is not cheap and the costs will most probably have to be shared between the two countries.

As far as the weapon system is concerned, Air and Cosmos reveals several new interresting key points :

The first meteor separation trials will be conducted in 2012 to get the missile available for export customers in 2016. (French Air Force entry into service is still planned for 2018)

Regarding IR missiles, the French and British MoD would have started discussions around a common Mica-IR and ASRAAM replacement. It is worth noting that, last year, a French deputy raised the question of the Mica replacement stating that it had to be initiated with no more delays for the missile to remain competitive compared to the last versions of the US made AIM-120.
This new Franco-British IR missile could have 2 meanings :
a- The French are switching for a short range IR missile, cheaper than the Mica-IR and the Mica EM still need to be replaced in the next 10 years.
b- The British are adopting the mica-IR concept of a medium range BVR missile, agile enough to be used as a dogfighting missile to replace the ASRAAM and possibly the AMRAAM.

AASM-IR ©Sagem

The IR version of the AASM smart bomb will get enhanced long range multi-targeting algorithms in order to be more effective against tanks.
At the same time, the Reco-NG pod will receive a new function enabling in flight GPS coordinates extraction of detected targets.
Combined with the above AASM-IR improved long range multi-targeting capability against tanks, one can imagine how deadly a flight of Rafale will be in the near future : The time between detection, decision and strike being very short.

ELGTR training bomb

Regarding the contained effect weapon already discussed here, the French DGA is also considering the Lockheed-Martin scalpel bomb (small contained-area precision energetic load) which is a weaponised version of the  ELGTR training GBU especially developed for low collateral damage strikes in urban zones.







More details about the RCS reduction program, now officialy named DEDIRA (Descreet Rafale Demonstrator), are also revealed by Air and Cosmos : in addition to the INCAS program to improved the SPECTRA suite, the air intake shape could be modified and conformal weapon containers could be used to hide weapons. New RAM technology is also considered. All in all, this looks very much like the "silent Hornet" pack developed by Boeing for the F/A-18E and presented as an operational less expensive alternative to the F-35 full stealth approach.

Libya, Rafale meets the Greyhoud

Since june 2, The Rafale M operating from the CdG have new friends : C2 Greyhound. The US Navy is using these planes to help freight transport between the CdG and the Hyeres naval base. The Greyhound is capable to take off the French aircraft carrier with 2 tons of load.

Source : http://www.defense.gouv.fr/

Libye : un aéronef américain apponte sur le Charles de Gaulle

Rafale F3-O4T and beyond

Rafale F3 weaponry - © P. Wodka-Gallien - May 2011

Last May 19, The French Defense Procurement Agency (DGA)  invited all the international defense press in order to expose the last Rafale milestones reached as well as the futures upgrades planned.












First, the Rafale F3-O4T (former Rafale roadmap) : 60 fighters ordered (25C, 25B, 10M) deliveries from 2013 to 2019

• RBE-2 AESA : Final evaluation in June-July with a qualification expected before the end of 2011
• DDM-NG : new missile warning receiver compatible with a future active IR jammer.
• OSF-IT : improved front sector optronic suite
• Damocles-XF : add a sharper TV channel to the current IR channel for better identification in urban zones. Should be introduced in 2016.
• M88-2-E4 engine : extended service life and 2 to 4% less consumption
• Export option : 9 tonnes  M88 engine. Require a 1.5 cm air intake enlargement and material change to keep low RCS. Proposed to the UAE.

2025 MLU :

• RCS improvements
• Conformal AESA : increase the radar coverage and seen as a better solution than a single moving antenna
• Thrust Vector Control for the M88 engine
• Sat Com system
• UCAV control system

Unfortunately, no word about a possible HMD...

Sources :
Rafale upgrade ready in 2012, Defense Aerospace
Plans for further Rafale upgrades emerge, Aviation Week

MMRCA, open debate about the IAF shortlist

More than a month after the official announcement of the MMRCA 2 finalists (Rafale and Typhoon), international defense analysts are still debating on the causes and concequences of the Indian choice to go for an European plane rather than a US one.

In particular, Ashley Tellis, who released an extensive report about the Indian contest back in january is now quite critical about the whole MMRCA process while he used to praised it when the US fighters were still in.

Decoding India's MMRCA Decision

One of his main point is that the IAF put too much emphasis on Aerodynamic performances and not enough on the sensor suite efficiency, which, acording to him is far better on US fighters and of primary importance for BVR combat. This argument alone is very debatable. As it is true that US made AESA radar (APG-79/80) are more mature designs than their european conterparts, there isn't such a technological gap when we look at passive sensors : optronic sensors and AESA interferometers on both European fighter are indeed second to none and tremendous assets for Air defense missions.

More counter arguments to Tellis point of view can be read on Live Fist by Mihir Shah : Response to Ashley J Tellis

Also worth reading is the Bill Sweetman Analysis in Aviation Week. Sweetman focus on an often forgotten strong point of the Rafale over the F-16/18 : RCS management. He also leaks the last "Active Cancellation" clue since a long time...

[...]The Rafale has impressive capabilities, including discretion, which the French prefer to the term “stealth.” Rafale visibly shows more marks of low-observables technology than its contemporaries, and there is evidence that its Thales Spectra electronic warfare system has an active cancellation mode.[...]

Rafale enters the Malaysia competition

Mig-29N pilot with LA100 Rafale Helmet - ©Bud Bilko - LIMA 2007

Although it is quite an unexpeted news, the Malay Mail is reporting that Dassault Aviation will open an office in Kuala Lumpur in the next weeks.


[...]The Malay Mail was informed by defence industry sources that the decision to open the office here “within the next one month or two” was a clear statement by Dassault that “it was serious” in offering its Rafale – which the company described as the only omni-role fighter - for the Royal Malaysian Air Force's (RMAF) multi-role combat aircraft (MRCA) programme.[...]

The RMAF requirement is for 12 to 18 fighter jets in order to replace MIG-29N. At first glance, it was thought that the Malay authorities would have selected the Boeing F/A-18E as the logical complement for its F/A-18D fleet. On the contrary, it seems that 3 other fighters are now concidered : the Eurofighter Typhoon, Saab Gripen and most probably the Dassault Rafale. This new Malay contest looks very much like a mini remake of the Indian MMRCA competition with almost the same actors. The Rafale being shortlisted in India might well be the reason why the French plane is now considered seriously by the RMAF. It is worth noting that Dassault usually does not bid if the contest is not percieved to be fair (Recently, Dassault did not respond to Japan and Korea RFI/RFQ)

[...]Last December, Dassault officials met with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Putrajaya. No details of the meeting have come out but it was believed that as a result of the meeting, Dassault had decided to actively pursue the MRCA programme.

The tender for the programme is only expected to be announced at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (Lima) show this December. All four fighters bidding for the MRCA contract are expected to take part in the show.[...]

Also read this 2009 report : Replacement of Malaysia MiG-29s Faces Future Budget Challenges