arthuroIn fact for high G manoeuvres (in a combat situation) the pilot will use the HOTAS concept mostly so it isn’t a big issue as he won’t have to use its touch screens extensively…
arthuroI’ve still got some pics…
arthurounfortunately no…As soon as you want to put numbers they don’t want to answer precisely…You will get an answer like “it depends on the conditions etc…” but one could expect smthg around mach 1,2 from my guessing according to their infos…
Its funny how to see that on the same subject some pilots will be very shy and then you talk to another guy like from the DGA and you get much more precise infos…So there is a part of luck in this
arthuroSo for what I learnt today…
-The fact that the mica IR sensor is integrated with the rafale weapon system is confirmed (sensor fused) …Which will lead to the abscence of IR channel for the next OSF (they invested on a new TV/laser range finder channel).
-The new hard point will be “opened” progressively and flight trials are expected soon…Mica and rokets will be integrated on these hard points.
-New systems are being integrated in the rafale (new antenna?) but it was impossible to have other informations than “wait and see”…
-Something which is perhaps not always known (I learnt it quite recently for someone interested with the rafale)…The main tactical display is not a traditional LCD screen but a kind of window where you can see the tactical situation as if it was a huge screen situated at a couple meters from the pilots head…
-The rafale is already able to SC in light AA combat configuration.
-Two of the rafale pilots thought that the power was sufficient with the current engines while one of them said “if more power is available why should we refuse it”.
-Again the MMI and the sensor fusion recieved all the praises from all the rafale pilots that I met which is regarded as being its biggest advantage towards the competition.
-Two rafale pilots expressed their desire to have an helmet mounted sight integrated when asked about new improvements they would like to see…But they were less convinced by the necessity of a DVI.
Unfortunately I couldn’t have some of the info required by some members here. I hope that will be interesting. Many things we discussed with pilots are already known so I didn’t bother to right them.
arthuroand a top secret new antenna on the rafale B301 (development)…impossible to know what it is…
arthuroand to finish other pics about various aircrafts…
arthuroa set about moke up…
You can notice some unseen configs…
arthuroNow a set of pictures about ordonnace…
arthuroBefore getting into the details of what I learnt today, lets starts with some personal pictures (I am not a good photograph but the content can be interesting)…
very interesting day I was able to visit the ADA and MN static display (again) and have a sit in the B327 in the morning, then I visited the USAF stand with the F16 and the F15E with a briefing of their respective coachs (very nice guys). Afterwards I had a sit in the Typhoon (a moke up) before visiting the Sukhoi superjet100 (I could have a sit in the cokpit and relax in the cabin)…
But the cherry on the cake was the invitation on Dassault’s static display where I could visit the rafale M (cokpit) and the Falcon 2000LX…Then I walked around other dassault’s aircrafts…
Here are my first set of pictures (I order them with a thematic / they are not chronologic)
So this is set of pictures about and around the rafale B from the AdA and the rafale M from Dassault (with the meteor)….
arthuroVery interesting video…
At 0’21 it is sais that the missile seekers are part of the sensor fusion and the part where the IR seekers of the mica scaning the airspace is interesting as well…
In fact remember the Swiss and the Brazilian rafale pdf…There was a graphic chart stating that mica IR seekers were part of rafale sensors and data fusion….
If you look at it closely you can read in the video…I can see 3D localisation for the spectra for instance…Managing EM compatibilities, flexible threat library management system, 360° solid state of the art AESA RF jamming, electronic datafusion 360° RF, Laser, IR allow missile fire with spectra…
Scorpion is right watch the video in HD it is even better…Don’t hesitate to put on pause to read or wtch some cokpit details.
arthurofollow the link for the picture of a rafale with 3 SCALPS
More Power For Rafale
The United Arab Emirates’s demand that the Rafale get more powerful M88 engines before Abu Dhabi buys the fighter could have far reaching implications for the combat aircraft.
The UAE has signaled it is making purchase of the fighter contingent on a 9 ton thrust version of the Snecma M88 turbojet being ready. The main reason has been to improve operations in hot conditions.
But there’s more than just a side benefit to the upgrade. The project will allow Rafale to increase its payload. To highlight the improvement, Dassault Aviation is showing a model of Rafale with three Scalp Apache cruise missiles:
Snecma says it plans to test a new high-pressure core design for the M88 engine. The test is planned for September. A low-pressure part of the engine already began running on the bench earlier this year.
Paris ready to finance the development of engines for the Rafale Abu Dhabi
Nicolas Sarkozy has agreed at the opening of the military base in Abu Dhabi: France will pay half of the development of the engine 9 tons. And perhaps other equipment.
Officially, the opening end of May the French defense base in Abu Dhabi, was not related to any ongoing trade negotiations with the United Arab Emirates. Unofficially, the visit of the french president allowed to cross a very important step in the rafale: Nicolas Sarkozy, in fact, has agreed in principle that France shares the cost of developing the engine of 9 pounds of thrust that wishes Emirates Army, it was learned from sources.
The bill would be just under 250 million euros over three years, 120 million for each country. This amount is not included in the Law 2009-2014 military program, it will probably find savings elsewhere. And what applies to the engine, manufactured by Snecma, could apply to other equipment as the UAE have included in their configuration and for which, again, it will move forward or find financing.
Go beyond
Singapore, Korea, the Netherlands: a majority of countries that are interested in the Rafale in the past had already found the engine of the fighter aircraft from Dassault Aviation a bit low. The French version is equipped engine that 7.5 tons of thrust. Because the local climate requires more power and they seek the latest in technology, the United Arab Emirates wanted to go beyond. Provided, however, not be the only ones to pay.
A study was conducted to integrate the F414 engine for the Rafale General Electric, no avail. Not only does this engine require significant modifications to the aircraft to install, but Paris has made technological independence vis-à-vis the United States one of the arguments for export Rafale. The trail of GE’s F404 has also been ruled out for technical and commercial reasons.
This left more than the solution of a cofinance This happened ten years ago for equipment guide arms installed on the Mirage 2000-9 purchased by the UAE. The French army benefits since. Paris will also decide the viewfinder for a helmet, the Rafale being devoid unlike its major competitors. Development that could benefit from Thales and Sagem. It may also develop a more powerful radar. “The negotiation with the UAE is indicative of the decisions that France has not taken in the past for financial reasons,” says a good connoisseur of the file. The export of the Rafale, which is still awaiting his first international score, seems at this price.
Source: Les Echos June 2009
Just to balance the power issue, the AdA pilots thinks thats the rafale is already extremely powerful and that if they start to complaint then what about those flying mirage 2000, mirage F1 etc…He said something like “ok it will be a little bit more maneuvrable in heavy config and would be even better in dogfighting but do we really need this improvments ? Is it really useful operationnaly ?” Afterward he said that a pilot will always asks for more but he admitted that it has little interest operationnaly.
On a personal note, rafales’s dogfighting record and its carrying capabilities as well as the demo make me thinks that the 9t variant is just the cherry on the cake…
arthuroThanks. I’ll take notes of these questions;)
arthurohello scorpion,
I understand your questions and to tell the truth I have the same questions as yours…What is written is what I have been told but I agree it sounds wierd.
The way I understand it, is it is some kind of compromises and not an ideal solution.
I think they are waiting for a new generation IR seaker so that the IR channel of the OSF will bring a real “added value”.
probably the IR seeker of the mica can already fulfill a significant % of the work achieved by the IR OSF and thus it would makes it a less relevant solution when you take into account the added price…
I’ll try to get more info on that thursday if I can…
arthuroif you have some questions related to the rafale I can try to ask them…But don’t be too specific otherwise they won’t answer.
For instance when speaking about basic features of SPECTRA today ( even some aspects which are extensively discussed in the press) the AdA pilot prefered to talk about another topic…So the difficult thing is to get interesting pieces of infos knowing that we can’t have acces to everything of course….
arthurowell one of the quality of the rafale is its sensor integration and fusion as well as its MMI according to this AdA pilot. Besides last october I had the same feedback from another rafale pilot in paris.
I f they choosed to go this way it is because they have some good reasons. They are investing in many areas so if they decided to scarp the IR channel (it is provisional, it can be added later) it is for rational reasons. So there might be pieces of info that we don’t have but this is a well balanced decision from operational feedbacks when deciding to invest on certain areas or not…I talked extensively to this DGA engineer and I had the feeling that there are some rational reasons behind this choice.
Afterward I honestly don’t have all the details of the story but this decision is a consensus with the pilots operational feedbacks, the DGA and the industry…So…
Spudman : I didn’t really exprssed myself very clearly when I said “they didn’t know how to realy use the IR channel” I meant they didn’t manage to find a big operational added value considering they have the mica IR. I didn’t meant it was difficult to use because of an improper integration….
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