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Subject:
Rafale ECM
french stratege
1/7/2004 9:22:01 AM
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The Dassault Rafale is a relatively small airplane (it does not need folding wings to fit on a carrier) that carries a very heavy load. The Rafale has an operating empty weight of around 22,000 pounds and was initially designed with a maximum take-off weight of 49,600 pounds. That figure has now been increased to 54,000 pounds, and Dassault is preparing a further jump to 60,000 pounds.
Without fuel or weapons, a Rafale weighs some 3,000 pounds more than a F-16C, but it can take off 10,000 pounds heavier. This allows the Rafale to carry as much as 21,000 pounds of external stores in addition to 9,000 pounds of internal fuel. With twin conformal fuel tanks holding a total of 600 US gallons of fuel - designed and flight-tested by Dassault during its campaign to win Korea's fighter contest - the Rafale can perform a 1,000-nm-radius strike mission, carrying both heavy air-to-surface weapons and air-to-air missiles. Despite these capabilities, the Rafale has failed to win a single export order to date, although it entered hard-fought campaigns in the United Arab Emirates and Korea. Singapore is getting close to a decision on a future high-end fighter aircraft. The Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) has apparently scooped much of the available world market, at least for now, so Singapore, which wants airplanes before the JSF is ready, is a unique opportunity for European contenders, such as the Eurofighter Typhoon and its French rival, the Rafale .
Meanwhile, in late August, the Rafale 's older stable mate, the Mirage 2000, remains in the running for an initial 24-aircraft order in Brazil, with another 36 aircraft likely to be sold in a follow-on deal. Since the early 1990s, the Mirage has been infused with much of the technology originally developed for Rafale - and even some more advanced features - and the Mirage and Sweden's Gripen (see"Lion of the Sky,"JED , April 2002) have been the most successful challengers to a US monopoly in the fighter business.
The Rafale , like most of its contemporaries, has taken longer to develop than expected. The Rafale A technology demonstrator made its first flight in July 1986. After the breakdown of discussions between France and the four Eurofighter nations, the French Government decided to proceed unilaterally with full-scale development and production of Rafale in 1987. The first of four production-type prototypes flew in 1991.
Unlike the Gripen, the Rafale is an entirely national program with all-new, French-developed airframe, propulsion, avionics, and weapons. The only way to render such a program affordable, given the size of the French armed forces, was to designate the Rafale as the replacement for every combat aircraft in service, from the Navy's ancient Vought F-8E(FN) Crusaders to the Air Force's Mirage IVP strategic reconnaissance aircraft. The result has been a very expensive program, which has competed with other projects - the Navy's nuclear-powered aircraft carrierCharles de Gaulle and the Army's Tiger helicopter, for instance - for a finite and fluctuating budget, leading to a long delay in funding production.
Relatively small for a twin-engine fighter, the Rafale weighs only 3,000 pounds less than an F-16C, but it can carry as much as 21,000 pounds of external stores in addition to 9,000 pounds of internal fuel. With twin conformal fuel tanks holding a total of 600 US gallons of fuel, the Rafale can perform a 1,000-nm-radius strike mission, carrying both heavy air-to-surface weapons and air-to-air missiles. French Ministry of Defense photo
However, the Navy's needs are urgent, and the carrier-based Rafale M has become the first Rafale variant to be delivered. The first Rafale squadron, Flotille 12F, was formed in May 2001 and is now working up aboard theCharles de Gaulle. Seven aircraft were deployed on the carrier in the Indian Ocean earlier this summer, and the squadron is expected to be declared fully operational shortly, with ten aircraft. According to French executives, some unofficial training engagements have already taken place between Rafales and US Navy F/A-18s. On June 9, 2002, Rafale Ms of the French Navy operating from theCharles de Gaulle participated in a joint patrol with American fighters. Although the assignment was for reconnaissance over the tense India-Pakistan border and no shots were fired, it marked the official combat debut of the aircraft (see "It Takes Two to Interoperate,"JED , August 2002).
An order for 20 aircraft announced at the end of 2001 brings total firm orders to 61 aircraft (36 for the French Air Force and 25 for the Navy). Deliveries of the first 13-aircraft batch - comprising ten operational Rafale Ms for the Navy and three two-seat Rafale Bs for Air Force testing - are nearly complete. Another 28 aircraft should |
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