Dassault CEO interview :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbmJVaZwaMA

There are some interesting info on the dutch evaluation :

I do not know what Mr. Collins said about the F-35 and F-22. However, I can tell you that the Rafale went up against the F-22, which is the most powerful fighter in the World, during an exercise in the United Arab Emirates last year. It more than held its own. The Netherlands also tested the Rafale when they were shopping for their next generation fighter. The Dutch evaluated three aircraft: the F-35, the Rafale and the Eurofighter. Of a total possible score of 8.5, the F-35 finished with 6.97 points just 2 hundredths of a point ahead of the Rafale on 6.95. I would also point out that at that time the F-35 was not yet in production. As a result, the Dutch were only able to assess the F-35 on paper. However, a Dutch Air Force contingent came to Dassault to undertake a comprehensive in-flight evaluation of the Rafale. They flew several missions to assess for themselves how the Rafale handled.

Mr. Yves Robins:

From what I remember, it was a comprehensive evaluation of the different models, with all the available means that the Dutch air force could have.
Obviously, at that time it was not possible to make an in-flight evaluation of the F-35, so the evaluation was made from the paper information provided by the manufacturer to the Dutch air force, whereas the Dutch air force went on the spot to where the other aircraft were manufactured and performed an in-flight evaluation of those aircraft. That in-flight evaluation was a pretty comprehensive one. It involved several flights addressing several types of operational concerns. They made their evaluation and they came back with their conclusions, and the result of that evaluation was published in the Dutch press.

http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=4765987&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=40&Ses=3%23Int-3473476#Int-3474371

News from Air & Cosmos from this friday :

-Indian negotiations are progressing relatively fast with about half of the mandatory point settled. The confidence that the deal could be signed is such that HAL is preparing a 108M$ investment to manufacture/assemble the rafale.

-A new Thales/DGA testbed is being prepared by SABENA. It is a Fokker 100 and on the picture it has a rafale nosecone with the OSF installed and RBE2 AESA. Beneath the aircraft you can see the Reco-NG and under the wing a Mica-EM.
It will also soon be a testebed for the RDY-3. The Fokker 100 replace one of the mystere XX tesbed used by the DGA.

..On the Indo-French Rafale deal, Browne said that the bilateral negotiation process is now half-way through and is expected to pick up later this month. “I have flown the aircraft and we all are satisfied and happy with the aircraft. We hope the deal will be completed by the end of the financial year.”

that’s very good news !

Gripen should receive the coup de grace

Combat aircraft-Parliamentarians of the Subcommittee on Security to investigate the procedure for evaluating the Gripen will meet Wednesday. The findings of their final report should be fatal to the Swedish aircraft.

“The report’s findings are accurate enough to undermine the process of buying the Gripen.” accorsing to a source close to the report, the Swedish Gripen fighter has lead in the wing.

http://www.lematin.ch/suisse/Le-Gripen-devrait-recevoir-le-coup-de-grce-/story/16071000

the report should be available August the 21st according to the article.

So who will take over the storm shadow ? Typhoon ? F35B ? Both ?

Aren’t they a bit short leged compared to the tornado for deep strike ? (one drop 1000L tank for the typhoon and 0 with the F35 when carrying the storm shadow)

There is absolutely nothing extraordinary in beating the f22 a few time…

The F22 is a bigger and heavier aircraft and it has the constraint of having a weapon bay ! and mind you its aerodynamics has to compose with stealth…No canards that could affect stealth or SC performance and a bigger boddy to accomodate interna bays…You just have to realize !!!

If the f22 can holds it own against smaller super 4th gen typhoons or rafales (Alaska, ATLC) then the credit goes to the F22 and not the other way round !

Yet most of the crowd here believe it is a supper achievement to beat a couple of times the f22 in BFM which only reveals that we are in the realm of mystics rather than the rationality of physics and aerodynamics laws.

I’ve read an interesting report on Typhoon Lerx in Air & Cosmos a while ago. Basically Typhoon Lerx improve typhoon turning rate by around 10% in average but the drawback was that it bleeds more energy. The conclusion was that the Lerx could easily be available with minimum development but that it was the responsibility of each customer to measure the pros and the cons.