Rafale: the contract for the MICA NG air-to-air missile signed, the F3-R standard qualified
Thanks to its various modernizations, the Rafale is gradually reaching a very high level of capability maturity to deal with current and future threats. In 2026, it will be armed by the new MICA NG air-to-air missile developed by MBDA France.
More than 14 years after its commissioning in the navy, the Rafale has become an increasingly formidable weapon of war with the qualification of the F3-R standard, a new version ensuring "its total interoperability", according to Dassault Aviation. This fighter aircraft should benefit from the new generation of air interception, combat and self-defence missiles (MICA NG) from 2026 onwards. The Directorate General for Armaments (DGA) signed on Tuesday a first firm contract for 200 MICA NG missiles and 300 MICAs renovated with the MBDA missile carrier. Either one year late on the initial schedule. "The MICA-NG is a contract for the acquisition of 567 missiles," said Joël Barre, General Delegate for Armaments, at his first press conference on Thursday.
The acquisition market for MICA NG, including development, amounts to nearly €1.2 billion. The first MICA NG missiles will be delivered "from 2026", confirmed Joël Barre. The last will be handed over to the armies in 2031. The additional order for the acquisition of the remaining 367 MICA NG should in principle be notified in 2021. The development of this new missile contributes more generally to the consolidation of the French DITB, in particular its missile industry.
A crucial weapon for the Rafale
Operation MICA NG is intended to maintain the interception, close combat and self-defence capability of air and naval combat aircraft in the face of current and future threats. "It is a strong act for the benefit of our armies," said Joël Barre. This operation includes the development and production of a new generation missile to equip the Rafale from the F3-R standard in addition to the MIDE wide-area interceptor missile (Meteor) as well as the reengining of part (300 units) of the current MICA fleet to continue to equip the Rafale and Mirage 2000-D and 2000-5.
The MICA missile is the Rafale's main weapon in its air defence missions as well as in its self-defence. It also equips the Mirage 2000-5 and gives the carrier a multi-target capability "pull and forget". With a range of well over 50 km at high altitude, the missile can operate in a severe environment of countermeasures. It is equipped with an active electromagnetic autodirector or an infrared autodirector, interchangeable. The industrial project management of this programme has been entrusted to MBDA France, while the major equipment manufacturers are Thales for the electromagnetic autodirector and military charge, GIE ADSIM (Safran/MBDA France) for the infrared autodirector, Roxel France for the thruster and Safran for the inertial power unit.
An ITAR Free missile
As part of the preparation for the future, France will be "extremely careful that our future equipment does not have or has a lower sensitivity to foreign components, especially for ITAR", said Florence Parly, Minister of the French Armed Forces, in an interview in La Tribune. Thus, future MICA-NG missiles will be developed taking these considerations into account. They will be ITAR Free, they assure La Tribune.
MBDA had to put its hand in the pocket for the launch of the MICA NG. Because the Ministry wants manufacturers to pay their share of the armaments programmes as soon as it has been declared exportable when the programme was defined. "It is not normal that the State does not benefit from more advantageous prices when export hypotheses become reality," Florence Parly explained last July. This must change, and we will launch this new approach with the launch of the MICA NG programme at the end of July. Clearly, the Ministry of the Armed Forces now wants a "state return" in "a royalty logic" as part of its support for the defence industry. MICA missiles have been exported to 14 countries around the world.
The new F3-R standard for the Rafale is qualified
The new F3-R standard for the Rafale was qualified on 31 October by the DGA. As with previous standards, the new F3-R standard provides major software and hardware enhancements. Two new capabilities are profoundly changing the situation in the field of combat aviation. On the one hand, the combination of the new Meteor very long-range air-to-air missile with the RBE2 electronic scanning radar with active antenna "puts the Rafale even further at the forefront of air combat", according to the Directorate General of Armaments. On the other hand, the new generation TALIOS designation nacelle "considerably improves capabilities in the field of target detection, recognition and identification, day and night, for high-precision air-to-ground strikes".
"Another milestone had already been reached in October with the launch of the F3-R upgrade projects for all 144 Rafale aircraft currently in service. The first ten Rafale F3-R aircraft, four of which will be delivered before the end of the year, will be used by the French Air Force and the French Navy to complete their operational appropriation, which has already begun alongside the DGA test teams," the DGA added.
Dassault Aviation, as well as the electronics engineer Thales, the missilier MBDA and the equipment manufacturer Safran, participated in the work of the F3-R standard. The Rafale's continuous improvement approach continues by reinforcing the omnirôle character of this fighter aircraft. This new standard has already strengthened the Rafale's export advantages: the first three international contracts for the Rafale were concluded on the basis of this F3-R standard, and more particularly the Meteor missile.
The Rafale capable of carrying out all combat aviation missions
The only totally omnirôle aircraft in the world, assures Dassault Aviation, the Rafale can be operated from a land base or from an aircraft carrier and can carry 1.5 times its weight in weapons and fuel. The Rafale was designed to accomplish all combat aviation missions: interception and air-to-air combat with 30 mm gun, Mica IR/EM missiles and Meteor missiles; ground support with 30 mm gun, GBU laser-guided bombs and AASM GPS-guided bombs; deep strikes with Scalp-Storm Shadow cruise missiles; sea attack with Exocet AM39 Block 2 missile and other air-to-surface weapons; real-time tactical and strategic reconnaissance with Areos nacelle; in-flight refuelling from one Rafale to another (buddy-buddy); and, finally, nuclear deterrence with ASMP-A missile.
The Rafale entered service in 2004 in the French Navy and in 2006 in the French Air Force to gradually replace the seven types of combat aircraft of previous generations. He has a proven track record in external operations in various theatres: Afghanistan, Libya, Mali, Iraq and Syria. Of the 180 Rafales ordered by France to date, 151 have been delivered. The Rafale France fleet currently has a total of nearly 260,000 flight hours, including nearly 40,000 hours in operations.
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Rafale : le contrat du missile air-air MICA NG signé, le standard F3-R qualifié
