RAFALE'S MINI ENCYLOPEDIA FOR IT'S FANBOYZ

[sancho]

Rafale in different nice paint schemes:

SIG ASM - France Rafale

 

[sudhir007]

PICTURE: France accepts first AESA-equipped Rafale

Dassault and its industry partners on the Rafale combat aircraft have achieved a significant programme milestone with the delivery of the first production example to feature an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar.

Handed over to France's DGA defence procurement agency at Dassault's Merignac assembly site on 2 October, single-seat aircraft C137 will enter French air force service with the Thales RBE2 radar. The DGA says it will be delivered to Mont-de-Marsan air base "in the coming days".

Delivery of the first RBE2 has been achieved "on time and on budget", Dassault and Thales say in a joint statement. A schedule outlined last year calls for the new array to be ready to enter frontline use in mid-2013, and to equip the latest batch of 60 aircraft on order for the French air force and navy. The new F3-04T-standard fighter also has improved front sector optronics equipment from Thales and the DDM-NG passive missile approach warning system, produced by MBDA.

The Rafale has gained an operational AESA sensor before European rivals the Eurofighter Typhoon and Saab Gripen, its developers note. Also included in French proposals to export the so-called "omnirole" platform to Brazil and India, the RBE2 offers increased detection range, improved reliability and reduced maintenance demands versus the radar's earlier passive array.

A total of 111 Rafales have been delivered so far from combined orders for 180 aircraft, according to the DGA. This includes 36 M-model examples for the French navy and 37 Cs and 38 two-seater Bs for the air force.

 

[Major Shaitan Singh]

 

[SpArK]

Mirage 2000 / Rafale - Edit IRL | By RafaleDesign

 

[sancho]

Some interesting reports found from Olybrius of the MP forum:

Combat Aircraft Monthly , November 2012:

Air&Cosmos 2329, Oct 5, page 28:

- The production chain of GaN modules will be validated in 2013.
- A Spectra demonstrator using GaN modules is expected in 2014.


Wonder if we could get the GaN modules for SPECTRA to include them in our licence produced versions from 2016 onwards??? And I always said, that we should not waste time and money on indigenous AESAs, but take the RBE 2 AESA for LCA MK2 aswell and co-develop a version with GaN modules for Rafale upgrades and AMCA. Easier and with more potential, but pride might play a big role here.

 

[arp2041]

I have 2 queries regarding Rafale:

1. Will the contract be signed for only 126 a/c with 63 in the option clause (which IAF will use for certain) or all 189 will be signed at once?

2. Will the a/c delivered to IAF be just the latest version of Rafale or will it be tailor made according to the IAF's requirements, i mean a MKI'sed version of Rafale (having Israeli, Indian, Russian systems along with French)?

 

[DrSomnath999]

- The production chain of GaN modules will be validated in 2013.
- A Spectra demonstrator using GaN modules is expected in 2014.


Wonder if we could get the GaN modules for SPECTRA to include them in our licence produced versions from 2016 onwards???

it depends upon ToT package ie(money) well no moneythen no honey baby
but Spectra NG should india opt for (IMO)

 

[DrSomnath999]

I have 2 queries regarding Rafale:

1. Will the contract be signed for only 126 a/c with 63 in the option clause (which IAF will use for certain) or all 189 will be signed at once?

may be browne uncle would clear ur queries

The IAF chief said the primary contract would be only for 126 aircraft, and that the 50 per cent options clause (63 additional aircraft) had not been decided on yet, but was available.

Livefist: No Rumours, MMRCA Well On Track: IAF Chief

2. Will the a/c delivered to IAF be just the latest version of Rafale or will it be tailor made according to the IAF's requirements, i mean a MKI'sed version of Rafale (having Israeli, Indian, Russian systems along with French)?

again the same answer
It depends upon ToT package
usually custom made may be viable option like Su 30 mki but french approval would be required for installment of foreign systems .

 

[DrSomnath999]

And I always said, that we should not waste time and money on indigenous AESAs, but take the RBE 2 AESA for LCA MK2 aswell and co-develop a version with GaN modules for Rafale upgrades and AMCA. Easier and with more potential, but pride might play a big role here.

rather aesa radar india better install french scenema engines on LCA mark 2 & AMCA

 

[DrSomnath999]

SOME INTERESTING INFO ABOUT M-88 & KAVERI

TRANSLATION
In short

New M88 -4E 16 engine delivered. first equiped rafale delivery expected very soon

Pack CGP . Do not increase performance but enhance servicability
20 % of parts modified :stator ,rotor and HP parts
maintenance intervals increased -from TAC of 2500 cycles to 4000 ( equivalent to F16/F18 TAC )

60 % of potential of growth still remain on engine
All M88 engines of rafale fleet considered to be be upgraded to M88 -4E within 4 to 5 years

New tech for yet improved HP parts already in the pipe either enhancing thrust and/or servicability( already well served by service pack CGP ).Planned for validation and test in comming years for availability in 2015 horizon

M88-9 envisonned for EAU for engine thrust boost from 7,35 to 9 T is on hold .FAF and marine prefered pack CGP ,fearing M88-9 could affect servicability ,eventhough Snecma said thrust could be gained without maintainance cost increase

About INDIA
Snecma consider collaborating on the KAVERI for a 9 to 10 T thrust engine using M88 HP parts.
Not much info was given by Snecma ,in that context, aside them being in frank and open discussion with indian GTRE laboratory and another unnamed indian company prior MMRCA selection .

Following Rafale selection , Snecma prepare offset and technological transfer , not to produce new engine this time , but for local production of M88

COURTESY:xman
THANK U FOR THE INFO MATE

 

[sancho]

it depends upon ToT package ie(money) well no moneythen no honey baby
but Spectra NG should india opt for (IMO)

Not only that, but if the development of the GaN modules will be finished and mature enough for operational use by then. If yes, it would be a great addition for our Rafales!

rather aesa radar india better install french scenema engines on LCA mark 2 & AMCA

I'm fine with the GE 414 for LCA, but we should finally fix the Kaveri - Snecma co-development, can't understand why there is so much delay.

 

[DrSomnath999]

And if Dassault convinced the Americans to buy the Rafale?

Visiting the University of Defence in Brest, Edelstenne noted that future American F-35 would cost much more than the Rafale. Dassault boss invites Americans to buy French.

This is one of the provocations Edelstenne a secret. Scuds as a boss Dassault Aviation strives to send with the regularity of a Swiss watch. Second day of the Defense University on Tuesday, September 11 at 9:00 in Brest: a peaceful debate ensued on the "defense of Europe". Industrial, military, ambassadors, heads of agencies and defense weapons converse setbacks of European and American programs, including the massive program of F-35 or JSF, in which the United States had succeeded in embarking countries European countries such as the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands and Denmark.

Edelstenne rises. Request the microphone. And embarks on a merciless pounding of the U.S., the total cost has slipped from 50% in recent years, from 1,000 to 1,500 billion according to the Pentagon. "The current difficulties are just the beginning, because the maturation phase systems is much more complex. The unit cost has already surpassed that of the Rafale , while the quantities ordered for the F-35 is more than ten times higher ... "

The reason for the continuation of this program ruinous? Edelstenne cracks a smile: "The Americans call TINA program, for" There is no alternative. "But if there is an alternative: the Rafale aircraft experienced technically and financially."

A joke based on a reality

The message is clear: if the countries of the F-35 program, including the United States, came to renounce, Dassault would be delighted to place its Rafale. Although the manufacturer has made a habit to deliver only 11 aircraft per year in its sole French client: "If states want hundreds of aircraft, we will arrange no problem," laughs Eric Trappier, international director of the aircraft manufacturer.

Of course, the proposal is primarily Edelstenne the joke: it would hurt Washington and its allies to abandon a program to 1,450 billion (the life of equipment) to buy French fighter, even if the Rafale would probably be much cheaper than the F-35.

But the projection of this morning has at least the merit of clearly the problem: despite additional costs phenomenal enormous technical difficulties on the engine Pratt & Whitney F135 and industrial returns disappoint Washington's allies, the program F-35 Lockheed Martin has actually managed its strategic goal: Wipe the defense budgets of several European states, burdened by this purchase, while preventing them to go to the competition despite the delays and extra costs of the program.

At this time of writing a new White Paper on Defence, the lesson is not anecdotal. NATO, and through it the United States, continue to put pressure on Europe to convert to "pooling and sharing" and "Smart defense", two popular anglicisms to define the pooling and sharing between allied military equipment such as tankers or surveillance drones. It was one of the great anthems of the NATO summit in Chicago.

A strategy that could be that of Europe against the American ogre

At first glance, the idea is appealing the European states in the midst of shrinking defense budgets. But the trap is clear: most of these shares are, and may always be, on American equipment. "The Smart Defense is a war machine for the U.S. industry, ensures Jean-Louis Carrère, chairman of the Defense Committee of the Senate. Example F-35 and perhaps soon the anti-ballistic missile defense [ European shield project-based radars, and interceptor missiles destroyers American Ed] shows that their method is to drain the national budget and kill the European defense industry. " All without the industrial returns expected by customers in Europe: "On the F-35, industrial return for partners, including the United Kingdom, the caliper measurement," points to the delegate gééral arming Laurent Collet -Billon.

By offering a pooling based on the Rafale, Edelstenne sketch perhaps the strategy could be the face of Europe in the American ogre: the pooling of equipment, yes, but incorporating a dimension of European preference. Remains whether the historic allies of Washington in Europe, London head, hear it that way.
Google Translate

 

[arp2041]

^^^ Nice article:

1. It demonstrates that Rafale is one of the best a/c around, if not the best.
2. US can in no way abandon the F-35 program now, even if that means more cost & more time, abandoning the project now will result in decrease in repo of America as a reliable defence supplier, thus it's the question of American dignity & self respect.
3. 11 ac/ year is supplied by Dassault to French AF & Navy????? how will it fulfill IAF's (or in later year IN's) demand???

P.S. If ever Rafale will be offered to British AF in place of F-35s, than British PM David Cameron will be the happiest man on earth, he will be saying to himself - "And I was pitching for Eurofighter Typhoon to the IAF.....duh...."

 

[sancho]

3. 11 ac/ year is supplied by Dassault to French AF & Navy????? how will it fulfill IAF's (or in later year IN's) demand???

Their production is designed for up to 30 a year, so they can easily increase it if necessary, but since only a single squad is expected to be build in France so far, they don't need much increase anyway.

P.S. If ever Rafale will be offered to British AF in place of F-35s, than British PM David Cameron will be the happiest man on earth, he will be saying to himself - "And I was pitching for Eurofighter Typhoon to the IAF.....duh...."

That's chance is over, cause the brits won't change their carrier design anymore. Only with catapults the Rafale would have been a choice for their navy, while the EF could have been the only choice of the airforce. The French might even have shared the costs for the 2nd carrier and they could have jointly used it, but I guess the US pressure was too high.

 

[SpArK]

Here's Dassault_OnAir's Rafale ad in the papers today wishing the IAF on its 80th AirForceDay.