Good point, Rimmer, ^^^^

Even though we usually bicker over competition
between countries, airforces, types and pilots,
there is a rich world of cooperation out there.

A French pilot was recently decorated in the UK
for operations with the exchange squadron he
was assigned to IN IRAK; in a “war” that France
opposed and stopped from getting UN approval.

As a matter of fact, Franco-American military
preparation cooperative exercises have been
higher than before since that ex-president said
we should “be punished”. I wonder if the armed
forces are not more reality-minded than the
politicians,:dev2:
which would account for these dueling agendas!

“Sure Sir, YOU punish these frogs………..while,
knowing that we are most likely gonna fight together,
WE will train aircombat, naval air deployment, CSAR
and Special Ops with them in the meanwhile!”
…………..inner voice of a bright Chief of Staff

Cheers to all exchange personnel over the world!

Good day all.

First, thank you Vishnu Som for that first hand explanation!
Second, I posted that link because of certain relevance but
it is a single viewpoint perspective. It just has the advantage
of being about the latest Red Flag to feature the IAF.

As Vishnu Som explained, Red Flag is about learning to cooperate
on aerial war scenarii. In the same way, the PAF did not
“get to face the F-22 in Al-Dhafra”. The F-22 and Typhoon and
Rafale were there to “get to know each other. The bragging rights notwithstanding, the training of airforces that will fight together
if at all was the main reason for their simultaneous presence.
You can add the fact that the place is “quiet” ( Think of the time
it took for infos to get back to us, LOL. ) and a little political
inference would bring up the idea of Show of Presence to Iran.

So the PAF could be said to have been “also there”, no disrespect
intended to our Pakistani friends.

Under the RoE, the IAF did just fine in Red Flag IMHO.

Good day all.

There you go, buddy :

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/2008/11/usaf-pilot-describes-iaf-su30m.html

🙂

Well, since you guys did not seem enthralled by my
link to the nice RAF Rafale pics, here is something more
directly related to the thread’s subject :

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a13e3332-2f87-11df-9153-00144feabdc0.html?catid=176&SID=google

Good Reading.:cool:

More news :

http://www.defense.gouv.fr/marine/base/breves/atalante_35_pirates_interceptes_en_trois_jours_par_la_fregate_nivose

Tay translation :

Atalante : 35 pirates intercepted in three days by the frigate
Nivôse

On Sunday 7th March 2010, the French frigate Nivôse acting
under european operation Atalante has intercepted eleven
Somali pirates operating off the Somalian coasts. The people
captured added themselves to twenty-four presumed pirates
already detained onboard the ship.
Operation Atalante thus registered the most important pirate
capture done in the Somalian maritime region.

Here is another news snippet about it :
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iDB_Q9Xfx9klHkrwDqsBQC_yP-RQ

Good work.
And good day all.

Really StAndrea?
So the other nation’s Typhoons are
gonna be even easier to down?

NICEE!:diablo:

Good day all.

As promised earlier, i’m back with information.

Mass 112 kg
Length 3.10 m
Diameter 0.16 m
Range
from < 500 m to > 60 km
Missile guidance
strap-down inertial reference unit
active RF monopulse doppler seeker
passive imaging IR seeker
reardata-link receiver
lock-on after launch or lock-on before launch
Offensive section
RF proximity fuze
impact fuze
focused splinters
high explosive warhead
Aerodynamics
long chord wings
Control
tail control surfaces
thrust vector control (TVC)

That is out of this link that I have posted earlier :
http://www.mbda-systems.com/mbda/site/ref/scripts/EN_MICA_124.html

so the range is 60kms!

Now, here is the head movement aspect of acquisition
by the pilot of a target which i kided about earlier :

The radar is backed up by optical and passive electronic-detection systems. Located immediately behind the radar is the front-sector optronic (FSO) system, produced by Thales. The FSO has two optical heads. On the right is a long-range infrared search and track (IRST), operating in the long-wave IR band, which detects point IR sources over a wide field of view. On the left is a combat-identification sensor, which combines an imaging sensor (daylight video on the prototype and mid-wave IR in production aircraft) and a laser rangefinder. It can track a single target in the front sector and display an enlarged image in the cockpit, and is normally aimed automatically at the most threatening target. If the rules of engagement require visual identification, the Rafale pilot can declare a target as hostile well outside normal visual range.

Information from the Spectra EW suite, the radar, and the OSF are brought together through modular mission computers and presented to the pilot and back-seater via a modern cockpit with 160 square inches of active display space – a close second to the 180 square inches on the larger F-22 and rather more than the Typhoon.

The Rafale cockpit hardware includes a number of unusual or unique features. The large central screen, which normally hosts the main tactical-situation display, is collimated at infinity. The physical optics of the “head-level display” (HLD) are designed so that the top of the HLD is directly below the head-up display (HUD). (On most other fighters, there is a small up-front control panel under the HUD and above the main central display.) Imagery from the identification sensor can be displayed on a window in the HLD. This system allows the pilot to switch from the short-term HUD view to the larger tactical picture without refocusing his eyes or dropping his gaze below the head-up display (HUD).

That is straight out of here :
http://www.fighter-planes.com/info/rafale.htm

This is the heading of Jane’s piece about OSF :
Optronique Secteur Frontal (OSF) for the Rafale aircraft (France), Airborne electro optic (EO) systems

Type
Airborne Electro Optic (EO) Infra-Red Search and Track System (IRSTS).

Description
Thales Optronics and SAGEM SA are co-operating for the development and manufacture of the TV and Infra-Red Search and Track System (IRSTS) for the Dassault Aviation Rafale ACT and ACM.The OSF (Optronique Secteur Frontal) is designed to aid covert missions, firing under jamming, visual identification and damage assessment in air-to-air, air-to-ground and air-to-sea operations and to provide navigation/piloting assistance. Key features include long-range Infra-Red (IR) passive detection, very low false alarm rates, high-definition CCD imagery, an eye-safe laser range-finder and very large Field of Regard (FoR), which may be supplemented by employing the seeker heads of Mica missiles fitted to the wingtip stations. The utilisation of separate optical assemblies for the IR and TV sensors facilitates multiple simultaneous search/identification/telemetry operation.The system is fully integrated with RBE2 radar and weapons system, with target hand-off from radar to OSF facilitating passive approach and engagement. Future improvements to the OSF includes enhancing the video system to a day/night camera.

as seen here of course :
http://www.janes.com/articles/Janes-Avionics/Optronique-Secteur-Frontal-OSF-for-the-Rafale-aircraft-France.html

Finally, the resulting “useless” HMCS already
exists and has been tried :
TopSight (France)

Rather than designing an HMD around an existing helmet shell, Thales Avionics (Vélizy-Villacoublay, France),
(at the time, Sextant Avionique) teamed with Intertechnique to design a new helmet system integrating the vision
system with the oxygen positive pressure breathing and full nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) protection.
The futuristic appearance of these helmets results from the use of a flush external face guard, contoured such as
not to obstruct the pilot’s FOV yet to fully cover the oxygen mask.
The TopSight (previously known as Opsis) (Figure 3-20), was evaluated originally on the Mirage 2000 fighter
and subsequently has been used on both the Mirage and the next-generation multirole Rafale fighters. The
TopSight is a day-only helmet, configured for air-to-air missions.
The TopSight uses a modular approach. The headgear includes two line-replaceable units: a) the basic helmet,
with a custom-fitted form liner and b) a removable Day Display Module, that projects symbology on the pilot’s
visor for target acquisition and designation; depending on the mission, this module can be replaced by a Night
Vision Module (ejection-compatible), or a Double Visor Module (for conventional helmet use).
Designed primarily for target acquisition and designation in support of the Mirage 2000 and Rafale, the air-to-
air version is a monocular visor projection display with 20° FOV and 60- mm eye relief. It uses a 0.5-inch
diameter CRT in stroke-only symbology, generated from target and aircraft parameters. The fully integrated
system, including the oxygen mask, has a head-supported weight of 1.45 kg (3.2 lbs).

TopNight

The TopNight (Figure 3-20) is a TopSight helmet configured for air-to-ground and night mission for the Rafale
fighter. It adds to the TopSight an image-intensified charge-coupled device (I2CCD) camera and binocular display
capability. It also adds FLIR image capability from an aircraft sensor or a night-vision image intensified image
from the helmet-mounted CCD. The pilot can switch between the external FLIR and I2CCD sensors. There is also
the option of presenting an image received from an outside video source.
The TopNight has a binocular display with a 40- x 30-degree FOV and 60-mm eye relief. It uses two 1⁄2-inch
diameter CRTs. Aircraft and targeting data are displayed both in stroke (symbology) and raster video imagery
(IR, image-intensified tubes [I2T] and television [TV]). The fully integrated assembly, including the oxygen mask
and the I2T, has a head-supported weight of 1.8 kg (4 lbs).

which comes from this source :
http://www.usaarl.army.mil/new/publications/HMD_Book09/files/Section%209%20-%20Chapter%203%20Introduction%20to%20Helmet-Mounted%20Displays.pdf

Sorry for the coping/pasting, i am in a wee bit of a hurry,
read you later.