Saturday, December 19, 2015
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Monday, November 23, 2015
Chammal, First missions for the CDG
2015/11/23 The Rafale M of the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier have conducted their first strikes in Irak against IS positions around Mossoul and Ramadi. The video released today by the French Mindef shows 3 Rafale M being launched. The first 2 are loaded with AASM missiles and GBU-12 LGB. The 3rd one is equiped for reconnaissance with the AEROS pod. It is worth noting that this particular aircraft (M42) is one of the latest to have entered service with the French Navy. It is equiped with an AESA RBE-2 Radar, OSF-IT and DDM-NG (F3O-4T standard)
18 Rafale, 8 SEM and 2 E-2C are onboard the CDG: This is the biggest Rafale M deployment ever.
source: Mindef
Monday, November 16, 2015
France strikes back on ISIS command center
Sunday night 2015/11/15
Following the terror attacks in Paris last Friday, French Mirage 2000 and Rafale fighter jets have conducted massive air strikes on daesh head quaters at Raqqah in Syria.
At least 4 Rafale were involved in the raid alongside Mirage 2000D and Mirage 2000N.
The targets were a Command center and a training camp.
On the video below we can see 4 Rafale and 4 Mirage 2000N/D taking off from airbases in the UAE and Jordan.
The Rafale were apparently carrying 4 GBU-12 each, while the Mirage 2000D and N were loaded with GBU-12 (or GBU-49) and GBU-24.
According to the French Ministry of defense more than 20 bombs would have been fired during the strike.
Sources :
http://www.france24.com/
Following the terror attacks in Paris last Friday, French Mirage 2000 and Rafale fighter jets have conducted massive air strikes on daesh head quaters at Raqqah in Syria.
At least 4 Rafale were involved in the raid alongside Mirage 2000D and Mirage 2000N.
The targets were a Command center and a training camp.
On the video below we can see 4 Rafale and 4 Mirage 2000N/D taking off from airbases in the UAE and Jordan.
The Rafale were apparently carrying 4 GBU-12 each, while the Mirage 2000D and N were loaded with GBU-12 (or GBU-49) and GBU-24.
According to the French Ministry of defense more than 20 bombs would have been fired during the strike.
Sources :
http://www.france24.com/
Thursday, July 16, 2015
First Egyptian Rafale spotted
 |
| Rafale DM01 ©Alexandre Dubath |
Friday, June 19, 2015
Paris Air show, Rafale static display and testbed
Besides the Rafale C performing the solo display, 3 other Rafale can be seen on the static display :
On Dassault static display:
Also
present are the Mirage 2000D #676 and the "ABE-NG" testbed based on a
Fokker 100. The Mirage should perform the initial trials of the new
Thalès Talios pod while the Fokker will replace the 3 Mystere XX for the
Rafale equipment trials. It took 5 years for the French company Sabena to modify this Fokker 100. The early field tests should start in early 2016 with the IFF-NG and new communication systems for the Rafale.
The ABE-NG features a
reinforced front section able to carry 500 Kg of equipment like the
RBE-2 AESA radar. The lower center fuselage can sustain a 1 tonne
loadout and the wings have also been strengthened to carry Mica and
Meteor Air to Air missiles. However, no missile can be fired as it is not the purpose of this aircraft.
Although it will primarily be used to
test Rafale equipments, the aircraft is completely modular and can be
adaped to assess non Rafale systems as well. Each electronic bay can be sent directly to
the manufacturer (they were designed to go through the Fokker main door)
so that it can prepare the setup to be tested in its own facility. The bays are on the right
side of the deck and 4 operator consoles are available on the left. The right seat of the cockpit can also be used to control external load (such as pods) thanks to a dedicated joystick and display. Moreover, 15
additionnal passenger seats are located at the back of the plane.
- The Rafale M42 with the deadly 4 Meteor / 4 Mica Air to Air loadout + an additional Exocet Missile
- The Rafale C131 with an assymetrical GBU-24 / 3 AASM loadout + reco NG pod
- A Rafale C with 6 laser AASM
Also
present are the Mirage 2000D #676 and the "ABE-NG" testbed based on a
Fokker 100. The Mirage should perform the initial trials of the new
Thalès Talios pod while the Fokker will replace the 3 Mystere XX for the
Rafale equipment trials. It took 5 years for the French company Sabena to modify this Fokker 100. The early field tests should start in early 2016 with the IFF-NG and new communication systems for the Rafale. 
The ABE-NG features a
reinforced front section able to carry 500 Kg of equipment like the
RBE-2 AESA radar. The lower center fuselage can sustain a 1 tonne
loadout and the wings have also been strengthened to carry Mica and
Meteor Air to Air missiles. However, no missile can be fired as it is not the purpose of this aircraft.
Although it will primarily be used to
test Rafale equipments, the aircraft is completely modular and can be
adaped to assess non Rafale systems as well. Each electronic bay can be sent directly to
the manufacturer (they were designed to go through the Fokker main door)
so that it can prepare the setup to be tested in its own facility. The bays are on the right
side of the deck and 4 operator consoles are available on the left. The right seat of the cockpit can also be used to control external load (such as pods) thanks to a dedicated joystick and display. Moreover, 15
additionnal passenger seats are located at the back of the plane.
This project was driven by cost efficiency: this is one of the reasons why Sabena selected the Fokker 100, a sturdy and easy to maintain air liner with twice the payload, more electric power and cooling capacity than the small Dassault bizzjet. Even if it is not produced anymore, the type is quite recent (late 80ies) and there is still a fleet of 160 aircrafts operated by various airlines around the world. This will insure easy support and maintenance compare to the ageing Mystere XX.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)