arthuroWell that what an official said…It is perhaps not ideal and some kind of compromise but it is just how it is…The OSF is slaved to the radar to talk about integration…
arthuroOne day at the Paris Air show (professional days)
Hello everyone,
I’ve spent the whole day at the Le Bourget and I had the opportunity to meet two rafale pilots and a DGA engineer responsible for the AtG rafale weaponry integration. This was on the French armed forces static display, not Dassault’s.
I couldn’t have access to the Dassault static display today because of the number of official/TV delegations but I have an invitation for Thursday. The nice thing is that the French defense static was very comprehensive with a rafale B, a rafale M, an EC725 caracal with AdA para commandos (C-SAR), a mirage 2000D and a tiger helicopter. All the militaries were here to answer questions and as it was a professional day there weren’t too much people and I had really the time to talk with the pilots, the commandos or DGA staff.
I also crossed the French minister of defense which was visiting the French armed forced satic display but of course he was very busy with a big delegation of officers, industrials and cameras…So no chance to talk to him!
So the first rafale pilot that I met in the early afternoon (before the demos) was from the Marine Nationale. He is a former SuE pilot and has his night qual. Carrier landing with the rafale. He gave me quite a few “scoop” nothing extraordinary but still interesting when you are gleaning every piece of information.
Just to pick some of the stuff which didn’t appear in the press (many thing he said is already known), he told that when encountering F18 and F18 SH from the Roosevelt (dogfighting), the rafale didn’t suffer a single loss despite the fact that some of the hornets were equipped with JHMS+ Aim 9X. So he really balanced the quality of this feature. He recognized that they were a bit anxious before encountering such a type of threat but in the end it wasn’t really an issue. Second point he said that the SH looses a lot of energy when brutally changing of trajectory and then started to sink…In fact when their US navy counter parts couldn’t point their nose in the direction of the rafale to be within the aim9X firing envelope they strated to do this kind of brutal maneuver which made them loose their energy.
Other “scoop” concerning the rafale vs typhoon…This MN pilot already downed a typhoon with a two supersonic drop tank config (for the rafale) in a simulated gun dogfight. It took him three turns to take the advantage. So he didn’ felt that there was a big gap of performance between the two aircrafts in this area. He admitted that the outcome could have bee different as there is always a part of luck in this type of engagement but he insisted that both aircraft are quite similar for dog fighting skills. He also point out that it is impossible to know the real outcome of a BVR fight since many parameters are unknown. For instance rafale jamming war modes are never used in exercises just like other modern aircrafts.
That is it for the MN rafale pilot.
After the demos, later in the afternoon I went back and talked with an AdA rafale pilote from St Dizier. Just to pick the few interesting things he said (that are not really in the press)…He said that the rafale is in his opinion an excellent aircraft even if in some areas it is not the best. He said that the SH is better to carry heavy loads (it is bigger) that the Typhoon is better at high speeds and that Russian aircrafts are very impressive even if they are less sophisticated than their western counterparts. He said that there are two items were the rafale is above the competition according to pilots feedbacks in international exercises (he mentioned the typhoon the SH and the gripen). It was the Man Machine Interface which is top notch in the rafale according to him as well as the sensor fusion. He even talked about American generals visting St Dizier impressed by the MMI and the level of the situation awareness…(ok here he couldn’t dissimulate his pride at this point!)
The very interesting thing about this pilot is that he already flew with the RBE2 AESA and while he wasn’t specific he said like a children trying a new toy that the gain of performance is huge in every areas. He didn’t try to dissimulate the “wow” factor that he had when trying it.
Perhaps the most interesting meeting I had was with a DGA engineer which was responsible for the AtG weapons integration for the rafale….
So we should soon see the rafale operationally carrying GBU24…Firstly in the centerline pylone (*1) and after on the middle wing stations (*2). On this matter I also saw a reduced scale rafale moke up with three GBU24 on Dassault’s inside stand.
For the OSF-it and the absence of IR channel he said that it was because the pilots didn’t really know how to use it…Just to say that it was not that useful in real life considering the mica IR can already provide IR imaging with a greta field of view. They are integrated in the weapon system. So they preferred to dedicate all the resources to get a very good updated TV channel.
The new TDA rafale rocket pod was also displayed and he told that work in under way to integrate it. He also explained why it is so long to integrate weapons to an aircraft and the difference with crash programs. For instance only the rafale F3 will be able to fully exploit the GBU12. For the moment the firing envelope is very restrictive and it is difficult/energy consuming to use it in A-stan.
Damocles pods arrival is the AdA is imminent with the M2000 and the rafale. The first pods won’t have the rover system though because they aren’t from the newest XF version.
Other noteworthy things the rafale M displayed on Dassault static display has 4 meteors and 4 micas including two on the new outer wing pylons. Most of the reduced scale moke up in Dassault’s inside stand was fitted with micas on these new hard points.
That is it for today…I also talked to AdA commandos (I could handle FAMAS, minimi or sniper rifles), USAF personnel but that was about other military topics. I hope I forgot anything but I am going back to le Bourget Thursday with an access to dassault’s static display this time so I’ll be able to ask other questions…
arthuroI am parisian greg and the answer is a big yes…I didn’t look the hour schedule of the demos but usually it starts in the early afternoon…
You should take the RER B which almost links Orly and the bourget directly…I think you will need between 1h to 1H30 in total (counting the time to find your way and walking towards the show)…So you should arrive around 12h for the first demos which are not the most interesting usually…
Orly airport > Orly Val train (quite short) > RER B suburban train towards Le bourget (almost all the line) > walking or bus between the sation and the Bourget, follow the crowd (20 minutes) > you are arrived.
I am going tomorrow and Thursday (professional days, thank you thales!), Friday and perhaps Saturday…I hope to have access to Dassault’s static display like the two previous editions. I’ll bring back pictures and ask a few interesting questions.
arthurodid you watch the report ? It speaks extensively of the Typhoon Saudi deal
just a source among many others…
Documents reveal that Blair urged end to BAE-Saudi corruption investigation
by The Corner House and CAATfirst published 21st December 2007 | summary
Documents released in the High Court on Friday 21 December 2007 indicate that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation into BAE’s Saudi arms deals was dropped only after the then Prime Minister Tony Blair sent a personal minute to the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith. They show that Goldsmith did not believe that the case should be dropped in response to alleged Saudi threats to withdraw intelligence and security co-operation.
The documents are a witness statement from the Director of the Serious Fraud Office, Robert Wardle, and nine redacted (words and sentences excluded) typed-up letters between the Prime Minister and/or Cabinet Office (the government department supporting the Prime Minister) and the Attorney General (which superintends the Director of the Serious Fraud Office) dating from December 2005 to December 2006.
The documents were released during a ‘Directions Hearing’ at the High Court to prepare for a judicial review brought by The Corner House and Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) against the UK Government’s decision to cut short the SFO investigation into alleged corruption by BAE Systems in recent arms deals with Saudi Arabia.
They show that on 8th December 2006, Blair sent Goldmsith a ‘personal minute’ about the “real and immediate risk of a collapse in UK/Saudi security, intelligence and diplomatic cooperation”.
Blair stressed in this ‘personal minute’ his concern about “the critical difficulty presented to the negotiations over the Typhoon contract”, (a further proposed but unsigned deal for the sale of 72 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft from BAE to Saudi Arabia).
However, on 11th December — only three days before the investigation was dropped — Goldsmith told Blair that halting the investigation on the grounds of Saudi claims to withdraw cooperation “would send a bad message about the credibility of the law in this area, and look like giving in to threats”.
The released documents — which are heavily censored — do not contain any assessment of whether the Saudi threat to withdraw intelligence and diplomatic co-operation was real, credible or even imminent.
The decision made by the Director of the SFO, Robert Wardle, on 14th December 2006 to drop the investigation appears to have been based on Blair’s personal minute and meetings with the UK Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
The government has not released any documents about the Ambassador’s representations to Wardle nor about the Saudi representations to the UK government.
“From what we have seen so far, the evidence for any kind of genuine national security threat posed is threadbare”, said Nicholas Hildyard of The Corner House. “The government’s chief law officer was clearly advising it not to give in to the Saudi threats, but succumbed to pressure from Tony Blair.”
The Corner House and CAAT believe that the government has held back many documents. Their lawyers argued today that key information should be released.
The Directions Hearing was adjourned until early January 2008.
To learn more about the legal challenge and the background to it, go to Control BAE
.
The inquiry was quelled…
arthuroRafale: Combat Veteran Set For Upgrades
It has taken France some time to get the Rafale fighter’s multi-role capabilities into the field, but with that task now winding up, attention is starting to shift to introduce a far-reaching round of upgrades.
Developers are targeting the so-called F3 Plus standard for fielding around 2012. The emphasis is not so much on doing anything new, but on doing everything better. Upgrades are planned for the radar, targeting pod, optical sight system, and electronic warfare suite. The engine, also, is due for improvement, mainly to reduce its life-cycle cost.
French needs aren’t the only factors driving the enhancements. Equally important, if not more, is the interest of the French government and prime contractor Dassault to finally secure an export order for Rafale – the only exportable western fighter currently on the market having failed to secure such a deal. In addition to on-going competitions in Brazil, Switzerland and India, the Rafale is being marketed aggressively in the Middle East, particularly the United Arab Emirates.
As part of the upgrade roadmap, France is looking to add new weapons to Rafale. Among them is the ramjet-powered MBDA Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile. The problem is that there’s no firm budget or timeline, at this point, for when the weapon may be in inventory, says Stephane Reb, project manager at French armaments agency DGA. Meteor may not become operational on Rafale before 2017.
France also is looking to enhance air-to-ground capabilities, with risk reduction work now underway to integrate a laser-guided version of the AASM powered bomb, with a test shot due next year.
The biggest capabilities upgrade, however, is likely to be to the Thales radar, with the introduction of an active electronically scanned array. It is due to be ready in 2012, having already undergone significant development work. Low-rate AESA production began in November, will full-scale production to begin by year-end.
The radar will greatly expand the range and number of targets a Rafale fighter can track. It should also dramatically lower operating and maintenance costs.
Other major features in the development pipeline include the Damocles XF targeting pod enhancement. It should improve short and medium-range imagery, without degrading long-range performance. The XF also will include a datalink to provide ground forces with full motion video from the pod.
The optical site system, the OSF, is being improved by boosting processing (the OSF-IT standard) to allow the introduction of new software and target-tracking features. The Specter electronic-warfare suite also is being enhanced, mainly with the upgrade of the DDM missile warning system to the “NG” configuration. The DDM-NG is an imaging infrared system.
Meanwhile, Rafale continues its regular rotations to Afghanistan to support combat forces there. When the French air force made its debut there, just before the last Paris air show, missions were still flown from neighboring Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Since then, Rafales have been deployed to Kandahar, where they share the operational burden with Mirage 2000s and Super Entendards.
arthuroI was absent for the week end but but I would like to point out firstly that I don’t understand what D-Day comes into this debate. I am highly respectful for every ally nation and I don’t have anything against Britain…I may be a rafale enthusiast just like you are a BAE/Typhoon one Jack despite your saying but that doesn’t make me a nationalist or british hatter. if I ever offened you then I appologize. Please just stick to the debate and aeronautics without any other considerations.
About the core of the subject, I would like that you provide as much evidences as in this report. To prove that the saudi arabian deal wasn’t affected by corruption is almost as hard to prove that the earth is flat… An international inquiry is not neutral and to quell an inquiry isn’t as well…The “scheme” of the corruption is well explained with smoke screen and secret accounts in tax haven with some hard evidences like “firm numbers”, “fund transfer” or various testimony from high ranking officials.
I don’t want to be dragged in an endless debate where we disagree all the time…It is just a waste of time for everyone.
If you want to be convincing, an idea would be to debunk all the points and argument raised in this report. I think you can understand a little french don’t you ? otherwise we can help you…
I just wanted to point out that a if you disagree with this 1h report of this standard you need to do some serious work because honestly, even with a good sens of critics, this is really a quality investigative work. So you need more than unbacked/unchecked information you gave in your previous posts…
Obviously if you balance the credibility of your sayings and the report…The results is pretty obvious on “objective” journalistic criteriums letting appart our respective enthusiasm for aircrafts.
arthuroto be more precise he was sacked/replaced because his wife accepted 80000€ from EADS to fund her own firm (from the report)…In terms of indepence it is obviously not ideal…
Nowadays corruption is much more sophisticated and it is safe to say that justice couldn’t do its job in the best conditions as the inquirery was quelled. I would like to point out that this practise is not proper to BAE or britain but all defense firms starting by french ones…It is not France vs Britain it is just a commin practise in this kind of deals. Here we just have an example among others, but it is pretty compelling. And for Grim901, the report is not based on one testimony but many different sources…look at the number of people interviewed. There is always a grey zone between Client relationship and corruption…But when Client relationship account for several hundreds million € it is obviously corruption.
As mentionned there is an international inquiery on the typhoon deal in SA. The justice work is very hard and to hide behind the abscence of final conclusion is tantamount to staying blind or naive.
arthuroJackoniko you are either ridiculous or naive…There are some crying evidence against BAE, some people of the OCDE were threaten in their physical integrity or were threaten to loose their jobs…There is an international inquiry over BAE, icluding the OCDE and swiss officials interviewed take this affair very seriously…keep dreaming:rolleyes:
The austrian former air chief was sacked for corruption, the former south african defense minister got 100M€…There are some evidences.
The saudi Arabian affair was quelled…Of course those smoke screen firms and complex financial links with tax haven accounts is for legal affairs…:rolleyes:
And the SFO (serious Fraud Office) official which is interviewed is pretty clear about corruptions facts…I love when you say it is free of corruption when the report inquire extensively about the typhoon saudian deal…
Obviously this report (plus all the prss release) is very well documented and stands at a high standard investigative jouralist work (with much more sources that you can ever dream of, it is out of your reach)…
So to debunk this you really need to do some work, because the journalists who made this report have some very serious arguments…And when an OCDE anti corruption official is interviewed and testify that he was threaten…hum it has its weight….
arthurowhat is shocking is the “intimidation method” which reminds some mafia practises and the scale of the bribering which involve more than a billion £…
Also it is well explained that modern bribering is not about a lugage full of bank bill buch is much more subtle and complex with “screen firms” of lobbyists, money hidden in tax haven etc so that it is much more difficult for any inquireries… They also exploit a juridic gray zone between corruption and public relationship…
What is obvious is that The Saudi Arabian deal, The Austrian deal and most if not all the gripen deal are fully tainted with corruption…
Corruption is almost the norm in this kind of deals, no need to be surprised, just that here we can see the scale of the BAE corruption scheme and the methods.
arthuroI really like the F15 SE concept but I don’t know what to think about the RCS frontal aspect….
Is it worrying for the F35 that a bigger non fully stealth design (from the outset) can match its RCS or is it a huge achievement for boeing ??:confused:
It raises some questions…
arthuroIn its current form (F3) the rafale is already very competitive and capable when you look where stands the competition today. But the UAE deal if it materializes will push it in a new category…
Well they don’t seem to be that affected given the recent military spending splurge of the UAE (Thaad etc…).
arthuroRafale: Emirates want the top of the top
[10/06/09]Launched a year ago, negotiations for the sale of sixty Rafales to the United Arab Emirates have just crossed a milestone. Abu Dhabi has recently sent a list of technical specifications to the GIE Rafale (Dassault, Thales, Safran) and MBDA for weapons, according to sources. And like the Mirage 2000 bought ten years ago, the Air Force wants the very best in terms of fighter aircraft: “They want the Rafale of 2030, today,”says someone inside the negociation.
A long process of valuation
The request includes an engine of 9 tons of thrust, 1.5 tons more than the version in service with French forces. The Emirates also wanted an AESA, an improved optronic , a new Missile Warning Reciever , the integration of the Meteor air-air missile … Some of these technologies already have the attention of the French army, but their funding is not necessarily included in the next military programming law. some improvements, such as increasing the thrust of the M88 don’t intrest the french air force. So some specific features will be financed by both countries, the others remain at the client Arabic responsability.
Another prospect in the region, Kuwait could also participate in future developments.
The most difficult phase of negotiation between the GIE and thus began the Emirates. For how to fit all these needs in the technology budget of the client that is obviously the only one to know? This part of the negociation should seek another four to five months, although some of the price valuation work has already been done. This contract could be the first won by Dassault aircraft from France, unless Brazil chooses the french aircraft by September.
ALAIN RUELLO, Les Echos
http://www.lesechos.fr/info/aero/4873396-rafale-les-emirats-veulent-le-haut-de-gamme.htm
If this contract is eventually signed this will be a big boost to the rafale programme ! I think the UAE is probably the best client on earth ! Ready to fund some new developpments to have the best available !:D
arthuroYou are perhaps right…I am quite confused because in the special edition magazine about electronic warfare (Which I advise to any french speaking member : 100p about electronic warfare for 10,50 euros) they specify this ability for the Rbe2… And the article is from thales…So I really don’t know:confused:
arthuro128? Wasn’t it 120 minus 8 to fund new technologies? I thought these 8 aircraft haven’t been reordered?
I think they were but I am not 100% sure though…But I know that the french governement ordered two more unit as part of the investment plan to fight against the economic crisis.
When did Greece and India receive their M2ks? Hardly 15 years later!
Indeed, I think they meant that it needs to be operational first and as the rafale F2 was only operational in 2006…
Interesting I thought this mode was already available.
Well the current resolution is certainly not sufficient to allow “indentification”. Tracking yes but indentification no. The AESA technology should offer submetric SAR resolution and thus allow “indentification” of mooving targets like the F35 will with automatic detections and classification boosting the situation awarness.
arthuroDefence
DATE:10/06/09
SOURCE:Flight Daily News
PARIS AIR SHOW: Rafale’s fighting chance
By Craig HoyleThree French air force Dassault Rafale F2 fighters returned to Saint-Dizier air base on 21 May after completing a four-month detachment under “hot and high” conditions at Afghanistan’s Kandahar airfield. Alongside Dassault Mirage 2000Ds, the trio flew a combined 230 sorties and 800h, providing close air support for ground troops.
The air force says the Rafale’s Thales-developed front sector optronics suite was also used to provide reconnaissance and surveillance during the commitment, for example by tracking the movement of personnel from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force and by observing suspect vehicles.
AFGHANISTAN EXPERIENCE
Air force Rafales have visited Afghanistan before, while the French navy sent F1-standard examples to the region aboard the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle earlier this decade.
With operational experience growing, airframer Dassault, M88-2 engine manufacturer Snecma and avionics supplier Thales are now waiting on two decisions, which they believe could lead to the Rafale securing its first export sale within the next few months.
The first should come later this year, when Brazil is expected to advance its FX-2 contest by choosing between the Rafale, Boeing’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and Saab’s Gripen NG.
Best and final offers for the deal – which seeks an initial 36 aircraft – were due for submission on 8 June, with a contract signature expected by mid-2010. But the deal holds greater potential, with the requirement to later grow to possibly around 130 airframes.
Industrial aspects of the bids will be a major factor in the decision, with the government looking for national firms such as Embraer to gain new skills via the transfer of technology. France believes that its offering will hold a competitive edge in this area, as Boeing must make its bid via Washington’s rigid Foreign Military Sales mechanism, and as the Gripen NG has major US-supplied components, such as its General Electric F414G engines.
“We are the only ones offering [to transfer] all equipment, including source codes,” says Jean-Noël Stock, Thales’s head of the Rafale programme. This pledge includes the company’s RBE2 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, which is expected to secure production status with a French order before year-end to equip a fourth batch of Rafales for its air force and navy.
With development activities having concluded recently and the design on track to enter French air force service in 2012, the AESA technology is now central to all export campaigns involving the Rafale, including Brazil, India and Switzerland. “We are not afraid of any weakness in terms of reliability,” says Jean-Marc Goujon, Thales Aerospace’s head of marketing and product policy.
Switzerland earlier this year decided to slip its fighter selection until January 2010 at the earliest, leaving the Rafale, Gripen and EADS-promoted Eurofighter Typhoon in contention. To be valued at around $1.9 billion, the deal is likely to provide around 30 aircraft to replace part of the nation’s fleet of Northrop F-5s.
While an AESA sensor was not mandated in Switzerland’s requirements list, an evaluation team from its air force and Armasuisse procurement agency logged significantly more flight hours with two Rafales – including one equipped with an active array – than the other contenders. Only time will tell whether the French team’s technological push will tally with Berne’s operational needs, available budget and required fleet size.
BIG PRIZE
Despite spurious news reports earlier this year, the Rafale is still very much in the running for the biggest near-term prize in the fighter export market: India’s initially 126-aircraft medium multirole combat aircraft deal. Competition comes from the Gripen NG, Super Hornet and Typhoon, plus Lockheed Martin’s F-16 and the RSK MiG-35.
The requirement is worth around $10-12 billion, but its place in potentially determining the long-term viability of several of the products on offer will assume extra importance if, as expected, New Delhi potentially doubles the volume of its purchase over time.
In-country flight evaluations had been set for April or May, but are expected to kick off towards the end of this year or early 2010. Despite an apparent early drive to push the programme forward in rapid fashion, New Delhi’s expectation of fielding a new type in 2014 already looks highly ambitious, and patience could prove as important a factor as meeting its demands for industrial offset.
With Paris having so far ordered 128 Rafales, and expected to add around 60 more before year-end, the type is widely perceived as being overdue in securing an overseas sale.
Dassault argues that politics was the driving factor behind losses to Boeing’s F-15 in South Korea and Singapore. But there was no such excuse when Lockheed’s F-16 was selected to meet Morocco’s future fighter requirements, despite the Rafale having appeared to be lead candidate. “Morocco was a mistake by France,” says Pierre-Yves Chaltiel, chief executive of Thales Airborne Systems, referring to a state insistence that the nation should also acquire other French military equipment as a sale condition.
The Rafale industry team believes that the time is now right for the combat-proven fighter to gain a place in the inventories of foreign militaries, and cites Greece, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates as other potential future operators.
“Consider the Mirage 2000: our major export contracts were a good 15 years after the first deliveries to the French air force,” says Gérard Christmann, vice-president, general manager of electronic combat solutions for Thales’s aerospace activities. Noting that the service fielded operational Rafales only in 2006, he says: “It is totally normal to start the exports now. There are a lot of competitions, and we expect to win some.”
THALES DETAILS TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP FOR FIGHTERS EVOLUTION
Now approaching the end of its first decade in national service, the Dassault Rafale continues to receive new capabilities.
The most dramatic enhancements now being made are focused on the aircraft’s predominantly Thales-developed electronics equipment. Covering technologies such as radar, communications and self-protection, this accounts for around 30% of the value of each Rafale.
Perhaps the single most important change is the coming availability of the RBE2 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, scheduled to enter French air force use in 2012. Claimed to provide a more than 50% increase in detection range and reduced lifecycle costs when compared with earlier systems, this uses around 1,000 gallium-arsenide transmit/receive modules, manufactured by Europe’s United Monolithic Semiconductors.
In addition to its air-to-air and terrain-following modes, the sensor also generates identification- and targeting-quality ground mapping using its synthetic aperture radar mode, and a ground moving target indication function could follow.
© Dassault/V.Almansa
The Reco NG pod (on centreline) is among numerous sensor additions
France plans to equip its next batch of roughly 60 Rafales with the AESA array, and to retrofit “omnirole” F3 examples with the equipment, also offered for export.
“The E-scan architecture means not just a traditional radar with an active array on the front end: it’s an advanced system based on 10 years of development, testing and feedback,” says Jean-Marc Goujon, Thales Aerospace’s head of marketing and product policy. “We are the only ones with a fully mature AESA in Europe.”
Now being delivered to the French air force, the F3 standard introduces new air-to-surface weapons and Thales Optronique’s Reco NG/Areos reconnaissance and Damocles targeting pods.
An upgrade to the Rafale’s passive front sector optronics suite will also further its targeting potential, with the system gaining new identification and laser range finding equipment. The aircraft’s Spectra electronic warfare system, which provides 360° coverage, is also to get an improved missile warning system from MBDA. And the current integration of Mode 4 identification friend-or-foe equipment will be followed by Mode 5 in 2013.
“There is a roadmap with technologies to the end of the next decade,” says Goujon.
“The Rafale will be an evolving product, with regular upgrade.”
http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/06/10/327206/paris-air-show-rafales-fighting-chance.html
“The E-scan architecture means not just a traditional radar with an active array on the front end: it’s an advanced system based on 10 years of development, testing and feedback,” says Jean-Marc Goujon, Thales Aerospace’s head of marketing and product policy. “We are the only ones with a fully mature AESA in Europe.”
It seems that PESA was a clever and wise step towards AESA and not a dead end like some want us to believe….
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