Dassault Rafale - Updates and Discussion

La Direction générale de l’armement teste une nouvelle optique infrarouge destinée au Rafale F4.2​

The French armaments procurement agency tests the Rafale F4.2

The F4.2 version of the Rafale will be operational in around a year's time, and among the tests currently under way are those concerning a new improvement to the Rafale's IRST, which relates to its optics.

It was a year ago that the French Defence Procurement Agency [DGA] announced that it had qualified the Rafale F4.1. Compared with its predecessor, this new standard includes a number of major upgrades, such as the Scorpion helmet-mounted sight and the ability to carry the AASM 1000 GPS/laser-guided munition. It also featured improved fire control for the Meteor air-to-air missile, new functions for its sensors (Talios pod, RBE2 active antenna radar) as well as increased connectivity and better protection against cyber threats.

This is just the first increment... And the DGA is already preparing the second, the F4.2 standard.

"In qualitative terms, the standard for deliveries under the 2024-2030 military programming law will be the Rafale F4, made up of three sub-standards [F4.1, F4.2 and F4.3]. The incremental advances will include: the helmet-mounted sight, an initial connectivity brick, improved survivability, integration of upgraded weapons and improved availability", explained General Stéphane Mille, Chief of Staff of the French Air Force [AAE], in May 2023.

For the Rafale F4.2 standard, the main emphasis will be on collaborative combat, with, among other things:
  • the integration of Link 16 Block 2,
  • CONTACT digital software radio,
  • TRAGEDAC [which will give the Rafale a passive target location capability by networking aircraft in the same patrol]
  • and CAPOEIRA [for improved connectivity for Rafale upgrades].
The list of planned improvements does not end there... On 27 March, the DGA announced that it was currently carrying out trials on a new infrared optic for the Rafale F4.2's Optronique Secteur Frontal "Infra Red Search and Track" [OSF-IRST].

"Thales' Frontal Sector Optronics enables the Rafale F4.1 to track targets in the visible and infrared ranges. In its F4.2 version, it will be equipped with a new infrared optic that will improve the image quality of the Night Identification function," explains the DGA.

It adds: "These tests are being carried out by the DGA flight test centre of expertise to evaluate the performance of the engagement range, as well as the quality of the infrared image in small fields and that of tracking in dynamic evolution".

According to Thales, the OSF-IRST in high-resolution electro-optical/infrared [EO/IR] mode provides "unparalleled imaging".

"Thanks to the OSF-IRST function, pilots are able to distinguish, day or night, the nature of their target, whether it is armed or not, and other useful information. These new capabilities offered by the Rafale's OSF system enable pilots to detect, track and identify targets at any time, whatever the type of mission," concludes the manufacturer.
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: Domobran7, john0496, Ashwin and 3 others
Advances in communications

With the arrival of the F4 standard, the Rafale is equipped with the new Thales Contact software-defined radios, which are widely deployed in the French armed forces. These new-generation radios will remain fully compatible with the old radio waves and have been tested on the Rafale since 2020.

The Rafale F4.2 is also equipped with a new high-speed, discrete, directional, point-to-point combat data link, which will be used exclusively for communications and data exchange within a Rafale patrol. This link will use a new three-dimensional waveform (FO3D, or Forme d'Onde 3 Dimensions) generated by digital signal processing using antennas dedicated to the bandwidth required and the expected data flow.

This new fighter aircraft data link will complement - not replace - the current Link 16. As a result, the Rafale's basic avionics system must be modified to accommodate the two data link systems, which operate alongside each other (although they are not linked).

The architecture of the internal network had to be modified to make it even more resistant to cyber attacks. The CAPOEIRA (Connectivité Améliorée Pour les Evolutions du Rafale) research programme has been launched to help determine the type of architecture needed for a totally secure navigation and attack system.

Future military satellite communication will be encrypted, fully secure and impossible to intercept, thanks to a military-grade antenna and a hardened modem. It will enable the Rafale to activate a communications relay mode between fighters and ground troops on the one hand, and higher echelons on the other.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rajput Lion, F-14A, john0496 and 1 other person
French Rafale following Ariane 6
credits: Michael Sheetz/ French Airforce
449745611_1237580614069219_5888904107813272151_n.jpg
 
  • Love
  • Like
Reactions: Bon Plan and john0496
Last edited:
Innominate said:
How is that ASMR? Video too loud doesn't relax or give you head tingles.
Click to expand...
ASMR videos for normal people not for those with challenged sensory perceptions aka baby milk powder snorters , meth users / abusers , fentanyl users aka trailer park residents aka you .

Meanwhile you can enjoy this & try to relax even if you're having a wild rush .


Btw good to see you at home sweetie on a Saturday night with your legs together . Your ma would be so proud of you .
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Innominate
Optimist said:
India is a pretty loud place. The sound of the jet engine acts as a 'white noise' generator. :sleep:

View attachment 34822
Click to expand...
That video isn't even from India pops. Observe the roundels on the jet , will you. Besides , India's so loud that the sound of the Rafale engines will be drowned out. As they say India's not for beginners.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Innominate
BMD said:
www.defensenews.com

Dassault says Rafale jet production ramp-up hit by supply chain snags

“We have signed contracts for the Rafale, so we have to deliver on time,” CEO Eric Trappier said.
www.defensenews.com www.defensenews.com
Click to expand...
“We have signed contracts for the Rafale, so we have to deliver on time,” Trappier said. “For the moment, that’s what we’re doing. That said, I’m relatively optimistic that we’ll manage to deliver the Rafales in our order book. I’m even ready to take on new orders, so that should reassure you.”
 
Question for those more knowledgeable, why has the flyaway costs of the Rafale inflated over the years versus the F-35? It seems that Dassault has not benefited as much as LM from having a healthy order book?

I do understand that the F-35 is a much larger project and benefits from economies of scale to a far greater degree... but there is also a greater degree of foreign components and manufacturing in the F-35 versus the Rafale. Is France just more affected by inflation?
 
L’Arabie saoudite évoque une coopération prometteuse avec Dassault Aviation. Contrat pour 54 Rafale en vue ?
Saudi Arabia talks of promising cooperation with Dassault Aviation. Contract for 54 Rafales in sight?
The purchase of 48 Eurofighter Typhoon fighters has been blocked by a German veto, Japan has refused to give Saudi Arabia a place in the Global Combat Air Programme, which aims to develop a 6th generation fighter in cooperation with the UK and Italy, and relations with the United States are complicated... Last year, these factors fuelled a rumour that Saudi Arabia was going to turn to France to modernise its fighter aircraft by placing an order for Rafales with Dassault Aviation.

In October, La Tribune and Europe 1 reported that Riyadh had sent a request for a "costed proposal" to Dassault Aviation for 54 Rafales. A month earlier, the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, had met Kalid ben Salman, his Saudi counterpart, with whom he held discussions on "opportunities for cooperation and joint coordination in the military fields" as well as on "ways of strengthening and developing them".

GTv9PfYWsAA9ICu


However, this interest in the Rafale could have been a manoeuvre to advance the Typhoon dossier. Indeed, in January, Germany announced that it would lift its veto on weapons destined for Saudi Arabia. "We do not see ourselves, as the German federal government, opposing British considerations on [the sale] of other Eurofighters", declared Annalena Baerbock, the German Foreign Minister, welcoming Riyadh's "constructive role" in the Middle East crisis, following the terrorist attacks launched by Hamas against Israel.

Nevertheless, contacts between the Saudi and French authorities have continued and even intensified in recent months. A sign, no doubt, that the Saudi kingdom is determined to obtain Rafales...

GTv9PfdWsAMEZ0I


In May, the Saudi Deputy Defence Minister, Talal Bin Abdullah Al-Otaibi, travelled to Paris to meet General Fabien Mandon, the French President's Chief of Staff, and Patrick Pailloux, the Director of the Armed Forces Minister's civil and military cabinet. He also met Dassault Aviation CEO Éric Trappier, with whom he discussed "production capacities" [without going into further detail...].

Three months later, Mr Al-Otaibi met Mr Trappier again, this time at Bordeaux-Mérignac, where the Rafales are assembled.

GTv9PfhWsAIMr2t


According to a message circulated by the Saudi Ministry of Defence via X [formerly Twitter] on 30 July, the discussions focused on "promising cooperation opportunities in the field of military industry". They also discussed technology transfers and defence research and development [R&D], in line with the "Vision 2030" project, which aims to develop the kingdom's industrial capabilities.

GTv9PfYWsAQm6ne
 
  • Informative
  • Like
Reactions: Bon Plan and Rajput Lion
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom