there was a dassault engineer asked about the feasibility of a naval typhoon :

Recently, a version of the Eurofighter navalized was raised. Is it possible you think because this aircraft was not designed for this in origin?

The Eurofighter is suffering from major handicaps for a navalisation: First large reinforcements of the structure (fuselage and wing) are needed to collect the shocks to the landing and catapult. The works, colossal, may need to rethink the entire architecture internal (cell development). Similarly, the landing gear must be strengthened … Having been completely redesigned because it is currently under sized (too small wheels), on short leg (low ground clearance) and poorly implemented (including nose wheel set in inlets, so in a hollow structure that does not resist the efforts of the catapult and landing). Moreover, the approach speed of the Eurofighter is high. Finally, visibility to the impact of landing is low because of the “whiskers” in the nose.
After that, we can always say that everything is possible: it’s a question of price …. For information, Dassault Aviation had made a theoretical study on a navalisation Mirage 2000, a few years ago: the conclusion was to change 80% of the aircraft …

http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?p=1318628

post 792

Nice mirage 2000 solo display team 2008 video (good quality). Pilots having fun and making jokes.

Nice in cokpit flying starting around 4’40

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9adkc_demonstrateur-mirage-2000-edition-2_tech

I think that the weight debate is very difficult just like the price debate. There are some parameters wich are unknown so you can never reach a final conclusion. The B302 was used for the F2 development so it might have some test equipments…We don’t know.

I find much more interesting the debate about its real capabilities and the reports which are posted on the previous page are quite interesting I think to understand the rafale “concept” or “philosophy” of use.

but It do give in at least a first report as a passenger.

In fact, Sens, there were already two reports of foreign pilots flying the rafale as a passenger. I think these are very good reports to see how the rafale concept works. These articles are a bit old but the concepts are already here. I just realized that the rafale can fire lgb with its FSO !

If you cross check these reports with thr previous one you can get quite an accurate picture of rafale strenghts.

In 2001 for the F2 development by henri pierre grolleau

On January 26, 2001, Henri-Pierre Grolleau, our European Editor, was afforded the privilege of a flight in a production Rafale during a combat training mission. The purpose of the sortie from Dassault Flight Test Centre in Istres, in the south-east of France, was to demonstrate the Rafale’s performance and combat efficiency. The demonstration started in the simulator where both air-to-air and air-to-ground engagements were shown, helping me familiarise with the cockpit environment, the display formats, and the HOTAS switchology. The highlight of the day undoubtedly was the flight in Rafale B302. My pilot and mentor for this mission was Philippe Rebourg, Dassault Deputy Chief Test Pilot, who flew Mirage IIIEs when serving with the Armée de l’Air. In 1989, he was selected for test pilot training, and graduated from the US Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards in 1990 before joining the French Flight Test Centre where he worked on the Mirage 2000D, Mirage 200 -5, and Rafale programmes. He was recruited by Dassault in 1995, and has now logged about 5,000 flying hours including over 400 in Rafales.

Our aircraft, two-seat B302, is the third production Rafale, and first flew in December 1999. It is currently used for the French F2 multirole standard development programme, and, as such, is fully
nstrumented. It is equipped with a RBE2 radar capable of air-to-air and air-to-ground modes, with a Front Sector Optronics (FSO), and, when needed, with a Spectra self-defence suite and with the direct voice input system. However, neither Spectra nor the voice control system were actually fitted during my visit at Istres. The infrared sensor of the FSO was not installed either, but the TV sensor was fully operational. For our flight, B302 was equipped with a supersonic drop tank on the centreline pylon, two MICA EM training rounds on the aft fuselage stations, and two wingtip mounted Magic II training missiles, giving a takeoff weight of 16,400 kg. The 1,250 litre external tank, which brings the two-seater’s fuel capacity to 6,550 litres, is cleared to fly at speeds up to Mach 1.6. This mission was conducted as a real flight test, and two Dassault flight test engineers, Pierre-Louis
Aumont and Pierre Delestrade, monitored the sortie from a dedicated facility.
One’s immediate impression when approaching the Rafale is that it is considerably larger than previous Dassault fighters. Although the naval variant has a built-in ladder, access to the cockpit in the two-seat
Air Force version is made thanks to an external ladder.

The rear cockpit is very roomy and extremely welllaid, with every control within easy reach. The Martin-Baker Mk16F lightweight zero-zero ejection-seat proved very comfortable, and strapping in was a much easier process than with earlier Martin-Baker designs. For improved safety in the event of an ejection, it is equipped with arm restraints to minimise the risk of injury. The traditional leg restraints found on older fighters are built into the cockpit, around the foot tunnel, allowing the pilot to dispense from wearing garters. Although the day was really sunny, the airconditioning unit cooled the cockpit very rapidly and very effectively.

The engineers who designed the cockpit of the Rafale concentrated on reducing the workload for the aircrew, and introduced 21st Century technology to improve situational awareness. The instrument panels of rear and front Rafale cockpits are almost identical and are both night vision goggles-compatible. They are divided into three colour screens: two touch-sensitive lateral displays, and a large (20 x 20 degrees), high-resolution (1000 x 1000) head-level display.

The added benefit of the new head-level display is that is collimated to infinity, enabling the pilot to shift instantly from head-up flying to radar monitoring without a need to refocus and, furthermore, its field of view is considerably larger than the one of a traditional screen. The system worked nicely, and should set new standards. The wide angle (30 x 20
degrees) HUD provides short-term information whereas the head-level display conveys medium-term information. For the benefit of the back-seater, the image of the HUD is projected on a repeater mounted
on top of the instrument panel, providing the rear-seat occupant with a good view over the nose.

The Rafale has been designed with ease of operation in mind, and engine starting is a model of elegant simplicity: you just have to push two small auxiliary throttles from cut-off to idle, and then turn a rotary control left and right, or right and left according to which engine you want to start first (there is no preferential order). The auxiliary power unit immediately came on line, and the two SNECMA M88-2 turbofans were both turning and burning in under two minutes. Philippe Rebourg selected the Inertial Navigation System format on the left-hand touch-screen, and asked me to start the alignment which took only four minutes (it can be done in 1 min 30 sec, with slightly less accuracy). With all onboard flight-test and telemetry equipment
checks completed and clearance granted by Istres Ground, the throttle was advanced for taxi, and we slowly left the Dassault flight line towards holding point 33.

Departure

When ordered to do so, I armed my ejection-seat using the main seat-safety handle by my right thigh. The takeoff from Istres was made in good visual meteorological conditions: the temperature was 12 degrees centigrade and airfield elevation is 75 feet above sea-level. The Rafale is so powerful that it is impossible to apply full dry power against the brakes as this would send the aircraft forward anyway, causing damages o the tyres in the process.
Completely trusting the automatic fault detection, Philippe Rebourg
simultaneously released the brakes and slammed the throttle forward without checking the engine
parameters.

The fuel-efficient M88-2 turbofan is equipped with a FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control) which allows it to accelerate from idle to full reheat power in three seconds.

The acceleration was very brisk: a numerical readout of the Jx, the Rafale’s acceleration, appeared in a small box in the middle of the HUD. The obvious benefit of this feature is that it eliminates the need to carry out a traditional
time/distance check to confirm acceleration and engine performance. In our case, the Jx stabilised at 0.70 g after a few seconds. Rotation speed was 130 knots, and lift-off came some 700 metres down the runway. Philippe Rebourg raised the gear while we were accelerating, heading North.

Philippe Rebourg handed me over the jet to get a feel’ for the aircraft and become comfortable with the controls and displays. The front and rear cockpit side-sticks are not mechanically connected, which can be
a problem, depriving the instructor of useful information during conversion training. However, both throttles and rudder pedals are linked. The visibility afforded by the large canopy is outstanding, and the HUD repeater proved invaluable, allowing me to see straight ahead of the aircraft. My only concern was that when pointing at the sun, the repeater whited out, and the symbology briefly disappeared. B302 is equipped with a monochrome repeater but a new colour LCD one with improved image resolution will be offered shortly.

Cruise-missile delivery

At 1000 feet AGL and 400 knots IAS, Philippe Rebourg, demonstrated a cruise-missile attack profile. First, he selected the air-to-surface format on the left-hand touch-screen, and created a simulated fit with two Scalp missiles, the weapon of choice for long-range attacks of defended targets. Thanks to an
advanced mission preparation system, the missiles’ firing envelope had been determined before the sortie, and the parameters clearly appeared on the head-level display. The test pilot switched to attack mode, and, as explained in the simulator, asked me to start the alignment of the missiles’ inertial navigation systems using the left-hand touch-screen. The Mil-Std 1760 databus immediately transferred accurate navigation data to the Scalps, and a ‘Jink’ order flashed in the HUD. Responding at once, Philippe Rebourg
threw the Rafale into aggressive manoeuvres so that the gyros of the INSs were fed with enough motion and g information. He stabilised again while I ‘switched on’ the missiles’ turbofans. All the test pilot had to do was to follow the predetermined route into the crescent-shaped firing envelope, and then pull up with a positive g-load to simulate a perfect airframe/missile separation before breaking away to avoid ‘hitting’ the Scalps. The two simulated stand-off missiles were ‘fired’ in quick succession. The Scalp’s
very low IR and radar signatures help it disappear in the background clutter, preventing its destruction before the impact. For improved efficiency, the trajectory of the weapon can be adapted to the nature of
the target, enabling the missile, for instance, to fly round to attack a building from another side.

When clearing the firing area, Philippe Rebourg engaged the terrain following mode which uses a database to elaborate a safe trajectory. The hilly terrain provided an excellent environment to test this totally passive system. Thanks to an innovative symbology displayed on the HUD, the pilot always knows what to expect when deviating left or right from the planned route, when, for example, manoeuvring to avoid a sudden threat: the height of the surrounding terrain appears on the sight in an explicit way. The ride
quality was excellent, and Philippe Rebourg explained that the gust-alleviation mode originally envisioned was eventually not needed. There was light turbulence in the area, but the aircraft remained rock-steady, even when orverflying ridges.

Although all fuel-flow data is classified, it can be said that, at a typical low-level cruise speed of 450 knots at 500 feet, the consumption of the twin-engined Rafale is lower than the one of the lighter Mirage 2000 with the same weapon load, a considerable improvement which helps reduce the operating costs while simultaneously increasing the radius of action of the fighter.

Interception

After completing the cruise-missile delivery, the swing-role Rafale was reconfigured for the air-to-air role by pressing a single button. During air-to-air combat the radar searches above and below the horizon, and automatically selects high, medium or low pulse repetition frequencies to optimise detection range. Targets are IFF interrogated automatically, and a dogfight mode is available for close combat. For air-to-air interceptions, the RBE2 long detection ranges and multitarget capabilities enable the pilot to track up to 40 targets in the track-while-scan mode, irrespective of their aspects and flying altitudes. Interception data are calculated for the eight priority targets, allowing firing of MICA missiles in quick succession in
their full range envelopes. The weapon system automatically selects the nearest or most threatening target, and the pilot only has to accept the proposal and shoot (or instantly switch to another target if the
tactical situation or orders received dictate another choice).

On an operational aircraft equipped with a fully functioning datalink, radar, FSO, and self-defence suite, all tactical data is fused in the head-level
display. For interception, the head-level display is divided into vertical and horizontal tactical images, offering a perfectly clear view of the evolving combat situation to the crew. The FSO image can be inserted into the main image to further improve situational awareness. Alternatively, for raid assessment, la fonction loupe peut être mise en incrustation on the head-level display. As B302 was not fitted with the Spectra self-defence suite, Philippe Rebourg chose to use the right-hand lateral screen for the FSO
image.

By now, the weather was quickly deteriorating over the mountains of the central part of France, and the higher grounds were in clouds. Without specific threats pitted against us, interceptions of targets of
opportunity had to be simulated. As we were coming out of a turn with the RBE2 electronic scanning radar in the track-while-scan mode, the weapon system automatically acquired a lonely contact. The TV sensor of
the FSO is slaved to the radar, and the system immediately produced an image of the aircraft which proved to be a French Air Force Transall.

Although we could not yet see our prey, the TV sensor easily
tracked the contact: the optronics system seemed not to be affected by the thin cloud layer and, even at long range, the FSO clearly showed the turning propellers. As expected with such a new fighter type, no radar or FSO range will be published in this report as all data is classified.

However, it should be noted that this writer was really impressed by the capabilities offered by the weapon system: the radar and FSO
coverage in range, azimuth and elevation ensured excellent situational awareness. Mounted on top of the nose, ahead of the windscreen, the FSO has a nearly perfect field of view. <>, said Philippe Rebourg after the flight.
Philippe Rebourg offered to ‘attack’ the Transall with our MICA missiles. Using a controller on the throttle, he just had to accept the system’s proposal, and was ready to ‘fire’: quick and simple. On the head-level screen, two lines representing the MICA maximum range and its no-escape zone clearly showed
when to shoot. Thanks to this display, aircrews can choose the most adequate tactic to achieve immediate superiority. To demonstrate the multitarget capability, the test pilot engaged another target – in this case
an airliner – in less than two seconds. In the HUD, the remaining missile/fighter link (LAM) time was shown graphically, whereas the remaining missile flight-time was displayed numerically.

The MICA is very agile, and will prove exceptionally difficult to dodge: a jet deviation system combined with aerodynamic control surfaces and long cord wings give the missile exceptional agility (load factors of up to 50 g), and, according to Philippe Rebourg, its end-game performance exceed the ones of the AIM-120 AMRAAM. The wingmounted MICAs can be rail-launched at up to 9 g whereas the ejected fuselage missiles can be fired at up to 4 g. As was the case with the radar and the FSO, the firing range of these missiles cannot be disclosed.

With two simulated ‘kills’ credited to us, we turned south and headed towards the Mediterranean Sea…

Air-combat

On the way to our final target, Philippe Rebourg offered to demonstrate the Doppler beam sharpening (DBS) mode of the RBE2 radar. By processing the Doppler shift in the returned echo, the DBS mode created a high-definition view of a small part of the area, in this case Istres Air Base. The quality of the image was so good that we could easily make out the different buildings and hangars. The pilot designated the control tower, and the FSO was automatically pointed at it. But, while preparing the attack run on the
tower, Philippe Rebourg spotted a Mirage 2000N about to cross our path, slightly higher and heading towards the airfield where it is stationed. By a single action, the test pilot switched from air-to-ground to dogfight mode, as if we were under threat. In less than a second, the RBE2 radar acquired the target, and the FSO and Magic missiles were cued towards the unsuspecting Mirage. Philippe Rebourg threw the Rafale into a tight turn and, with the Magic acquisition growl in our headsets, fired’ a simulated missile.

At the pre-determined fuel value – 1,500 kg -, the word Bingo’ flashed on all screens, including the HUD, while a female voice whispered a warning. All too soon, it was time to return to Istres for circuit training.

Once downwind, the pilot selected the airbrake, which did not produce any significant pitch changes. Noteworthy is the fact that the Rafale is not equipped with a conventional airbrake. Instead, the canard leading edges come up, and the elevons on each wing deploy in opposite directions. The airfield, which is an active fighter and tanker base, was quite busy, and we had to wait for a Mirage 2000N and a pair of Alpha Jets to take off before turning into finals. The autothrottle was engaged to maintain 124 knots with 15 deg Alpha and, thanks to the HUD repeater, I was able to keep the runway in sight during the whole first

approach. The Rafale’s autothrottle system is much more sophisticated than a traditional autothrottle: it is coupled with both the engine and the controls which can be automatically deflected for maximum braking effect. On short finals, Philippe Rebourg flared, and the Rafale gently touched down. He immediately selected maximum reheat, with the Jx stabilising at 0.80 g. For the final landing, the test pilot changed the AOA to 16 deg, giving an approach speed of 120 knots. The 16 deg AOA associated with very high performance brakes ensured a remarkably short landing run, and we came to a full stop in about 600 m.

This short runway capability is a crucial advantage when flying out of a damaged air base, or when the infrastructure of the country where you operate from has not been designed to accommodate fighters on a permanent basis. While taxiing the Rafale back to the Dassault ramp, I found that the nosewheel steering was pleasantly precise, and that the wheel brakes were equally effective.

Flying such a modern aircraft is always an honour, and this 1 h 30 min flight was an excellent opportunity to discover all the impressive capabilities of the outstanding French fighter. Its RBE2 electronic scanning radar, its Front Sector Optronics, and its innovative man-machine interface place the Rafale in a class of its own among combat aircraft, making it a leading contender on the fighter market.

The author would like to thank Jean Camus, Pierre Delestrade, Yves Kerherve, Philippe Ramstein, Philippe
Rebourg, and Yves Robins for their kind help in organising this superb flight.

in 1999 by Chris Yeo former BAe AirOps director :

In the Falcon bringing me to Istres in order to fly the last born of Dassault fighters, I think it is an honour and an happiness to take part to a mission in such a modern and efficient fighter : the Rafale.
Lets it be clear : it is neither a trial nor an evaluation, but a demonstration of the weapon system capabilities in the guise of an attack mission a Rafale F2 pilot could execute.
My pilot will be Philippe Rebourg, assistant chief test pilot in charge of the Dassault Aviation military aircrafts department. Philippe Rebourg has accumulated more than 5000 flight hours, graduated in the Ecole de l’air and flew on Mirage IIIE, attended the USAF Test Pilot School course (1990A promotion) at Edwards. He flew 400h on the Rafale (and additionally 700 on gliders).

Our aircraft, B302, is the third of the production aircrafts and the second production two-seater. She made her first flight on December 1999 and is used for F2 standard development. She is equipped with a RBE2 electronically scanned radar from Thales with air to air and air to ground modes and, depending on the needs, SPECTRA electronic warfare system, front sector optronic (OSF) or direct voice input (DVI).

For this particular flight we have a development OSF with the TV sensor only. Neither the SPECTRA nor the DVI will be available on this flight.
With 2 Magic II acquisition rounds, 2 MICA EM fakes and one 1250L supersonic tank under the fuselage, our weight is 16400 kg. The external tank bringing the kerosene capacity at 6550L is limited at mach 1.6.
B302 is motorised by 2 SNECMA M88-2 Etape 1 engines of 7500 kgp thrust each.

Every flight on a fighter begins by a passage to the equipment service for the necessary ejection seat briefing, reception of the flight suit, fire resistant underwear, G suit, special gloves, helmet ‘ This mission being considered as an experimental flight, 2 test engineers will monitor our evolutions from
the test room. Thanks to the data link they will constantly listen radio communication and talks in the cockpit.

Approaching the Rafale I’m immediately stricken by aircraft dimensions. The time of the small Dassault fighters is well finished. Here is another world : even the air version landing gear is massive, cockpit is
very high and the fin culminates at 5.34 m.<

We are welcomed by Jacques Izquierdo, chief technician in charge of the B302. At Dassault, test pilots are totally confident in the technicians and the pre flight check has no raison d’être.

With a bit of an excitation I climb into the rear cockpit, taking care not to walk on the canard foreplane. With the help of Klaüs Brückner, the technician, I trap onto the Martin-Baker Mk16F zero-zero ejection
seat equipped with a very simple harness, an advantage over the Jaguar MK4 or the MK10 of the Mirage F1
and 2000. The Rafale is equipped with an integrated legs and arms safety system minimising wounds in case of an high speed ejection.

Rafale has an OBOGS system eliminating the need for dangerous air supplying and an integrated cryogenic generation system avoids liquid nitrogen stock and manipulation. Another new item, the centralised safety system allows the pilot to put automatically every jettisonable load (weapons, tanks, flares, chaff ‘) on ‘safe ‘ from the cockpit. An artificer is no more needed at the
departure or the return of an armed aircraft to safeguard every load with a pin. Although the fighter is equipped with an inboard APU the start is effected with a GPU at Dassault flight test center.

The procedure is very simple : you only push 2 switches from ‘stop’ to ‘idle’ and turn a ‘rotacteur’ to the right then to the left (inversely to start the left engine before the right one, there is no preferential order). Then, everything is entirely automatic and M88 are ready in less than 2 minutes.

Philippe Rebourg selections the INU mode (inertial navigation unit) on the left screen and ask me to launch the gyro alignment sequence using the touch sensitive screen. After exactly 4 minutes the 2 SAGEM INU are aligned. For an emergency take-off a quick alignment is achieved in 1.30 min, precision is less but can be considerably enhanced by GPS hybridisation.

The Rafale integrates a comprehensive navigation system with mission computer + trajectory elaboration computer + INU. Not less but 600 nav points can be programmed and the system computes automatically the trajectory, flight times, fuel availability according to the consumption.

While Philippe Rebourg achieves pre flight checklist and test-instrumentation checks I examine the cockpit. The ergonomy has been particularly worked out by engineers and the pilot has a very carefully designed interface. The instrument panel is dominated by the wide angle (20° x 20°) high resolution (1000 x 1000) display, collimated to the infinite. The 2 touch sensitive LCD on either side of the central display have a 500 x 500 resolution. On the left console a small touch sensitive display is used for selection of air
to air or air to ground modes while an auxiliary display is used to verify automatic pilot modes. Every visualization is NVG compatible and the forward scene is recorded by a camera placed under the wide angle holographic HUD (22° X 30°) and visualized by the back-seater on a video screen with the associated symbology and crosshairs. The pilot can dialogue with the plane manipulating HOTAS, touch sensitive screens, a touch-pad, DVI (inactive today), and the 2 ‘allumettes’ (matches). These are two commands
protruding from the instrument panel and being manipulated without releasing the throttle and stick. Impulses toward the left, right, up or down call primary menus on the lateral screens.
The plane is equipped with an auto diagnostic system, warning the pilot every time an anomaly being able to affect the mission happens (level 2 breakdown ‘).
After having tested the FBW system we are ready to taxi. Approaching the runway, Philippe Rebourg signal to arm the ejection seat with the lateral security switch.

While I lower the 2 visors of my helmet Philippe Rebourg aligns the airplane on the runway 33. The Rafale is so powerful that it is not possible to use the maximum dry thrust while braking : the friction coefficient is not enough to stop the plane and tires would be damaged.
The best technique is to go from idle to full afterburner while releasing braking. The FADEC manages every engines parameters without any human intervention. As on the Mirage 2000, the Jx, the longitudinal
acceleration value at take off, appears on the HUD and shows that the engines give their optimal thrust.
At 130 knots Philippe Rebourg pull the trigger up and we do a cool take off after 700 m.

After a few seconds we reach our transit height at low altitude.
First impressions : the cockpit is very spacious and the ejection seat very comfortable. Even if the 2 canard foreplanes hide the ground from the rear seat, visibility is excellent and I can easily see at six o’clock.

With the Alpilles ahead of our plane and the mount Ventoux starboard, we turn at 400 kts and 1000 feet
toward Arles and our first nav point, before heading north. During transit, Philippe Rebourg shows me how flexible the navigation system is. ‘At every moment, if the orders were modified or the tactical situation
changed, the pilot can quickly elaborate a new flight plan’
For the needs of the stand-off attack demonstration, a virtual configuration comprising two SCALP under the wings is created. During the preparation of the mission, a special software has determined the
geographical shooting domain in order for the missiles to overfly their first nav points. Approaching the fire zone, Philippe Rebourg selections the attack mode and the air to ground page is displayed on the left screen. The symbol ALN appears on the HUD, meaning we have to initiate the alignment of the SCALP INS.

As I have learned in the simulator, I launch the procedure by a pressure on the touch sensitive screen. A new order appears on the HUD, remembering the pilot to jink in order to align the missiles gyro ; Philippe Rebourg banks the plane and pull the trigger : we go in a turn to the right then to the left to come back on our track. Before firing, I have to launch the SCALP engines, not too soon to spare some fuel. On the central display the huge domain, crescent shaped, is displayed and as soon as we enter the pilot pull on the
stick to begin a steep climb maintaining the speed vector of the HUD between the 2 vertical tendency bars. This climb is essential as the pylones are designed to jettison SCALP under positive loading factor.
Philippe Rebourg push the release button simulating the shooting of the 2 missiles and egress immediately to the left as, during a real attack, collision with the SCALP flying at the same speed than the aircraft can happens. As soon as the missiles are released, their wings deploy and they begin their travel to the target.

‘The air to air and air to ground functions can be activated simultaneously, says Philippe Rebourg. It’s the real innovation giving the Rafale her superiority on her concurrents. During the SCALP attack, the air to air mode was active with radar and OSF dedicated to this function. Naturally the radar tracked some targets and the OSF has locked the target classified as the most dangerous by the system.

Only one push would have been sufficient to engage this target. The complete firing sequence can be realised through the auto pilot by simple imputs given with the coolie hat of the stick. On the Rafale, the auto pilot is completely integrated to the flight control system : it is part of the command chain like the airbrake function for example.’
After the simulated firing we egress at very low altitude and Philippe Rebourg engages the automatic terrain following system. The hills of the Vivarais mountain are an ideal environment to demonstrate this
capacity. The 2 secure maps of the multi corridor navigation system elaborate continuously 2 trajectories, either with the data of a 300,000 km² digital file over the ground or with the information of a radiosonde
for sea travel. A ground profile is calculated over the further 10 km, allowing the plane to sneak under the radar cover, automatically, day or night by all weather.

This totally passive system allows flight at 300 feet, this altitude being only temporary, final objective is 100 feet. The RBE2 has a 3D mapping mode
permitting flight at very low altitude over a terrain not recorded on file.

Before flight, Philippe Rebourg has selected the desired flight altitude, 500 feet in this sector, and has added 100 feet, the height of the higher artificial structures in this zone. According to the discretion needed the pilot can choose between 3 flight options : soft, medium and hard. In the hard mode, the loading factors are almost doubled in comparison with the Mirage 20000D and N and the speed domain is considerably larger. For this flight the soft option was used to take care of myself. At 450 knots the plane
is remarkably stable. ‘The anti turbulence mode, once envisaged, has finally not been installed as the FCS has proved to be perfectly able to manage wind gusts when jumping crests.’

A revolutionary anti ground collision system is being developed for the F2 standard. Thanks to the digital file, the onboard computer knows the exact altitude of the plane to the ground. In case a dangerous situation arises, for example if the pilot becomes disoriented in dogfight, in the clouds and dive to the ground, the system will warn him and he can pass in the terrain following mode. In the F3 standard the computer will be able to automatically switch to the terrain following mode to prevent crash.

Interception

As a swing role aircraft the Rafale has been designed to excel in both the air to ground and air to air arena. For air combat or interception the pilot has 3 sensors ‘ radar, OSF, SPECTRA- the data fusion system taking into account the more precise system for a given criterion when identifying or locating a
target. The OSF will be the preferred system for angular resolution, radar for ranging at long distances (OSF laser range finder at shorter distances) and SPECTRA for passive identification of threats (by comparison with a database).

‘This data fusion capacity between the different sensors is certainly the most significative point of the Rafale weapon system, explains Philippe Rebourg, it is a revolution by comparison with planes the generation of M2000 or F16 whose pilots have to build an image of the tactical situation by analysing information provided by radar or threat warning system. With the Rafale the crews can obtain a clear view of the whole air battle with one look and take the advantage.’

Every data recorded by different sensors are fused then presented on central display. The OSF image can be displayed on the same screen or a loupe can be activated to verify that a single plot is not a raid of many aircrafts flying in close formation. While in the RWS (range while scan) mode the RBE2 can track 40 targets of which 8 by a reinforced tracking mode for missile designation.

The M88-2 engines can accelerate from idle to maximum reheat thrust in less than 3 seconds permitting Rafale to accelerate quickly. The digital FBW gives a very good agility and the very inclined position of the ejection seat allows
pilot to resist higher load factors.

Suddenly, as we exit a turn, the RBE2 acquires a contact at medium altitude, Philippe Rebourg initiate immediately an air intercept, accelerating. The target is automatically followed by the weapon system and the pilots validates the proposed option by pressing a button on the throttle. For evident reasons no radar or OSF performance will be disclosed here. We are outside MICA range and we must still close in but the OSF having locked the target at the beginning of the interception shows an image of a Transall despite a fine layer of clouds separating us from the target. The OSF TV way works in fact in the near visible infrared and her large field of view allows tracking of high boresight objectives.

The pilot can choose between two firing domains : maximum range or no escape zone. Max range is materialized by a doted line and no escape by a steady line surrounding the target. In WVR combat a minimum shooting distance is materialized on the tactical display. As soon as we are in range the weapon system signals ‘shoot’ on the HUD, by cycling between the contacts the pilot can immediately engage the other targets, the second
missile is automatically locked on the n+1 target. MICA can be fired every 2 seconds, the one from the airframe points are ejected up to 4G while wings pylons can release MICA up to 9G. The propulsed phase is very short (a few seconds) and the shooting is nearly undetectable, no smoke is produced by the rocket motor. For long range intercept, the missile follows an inertial trajectory toward coordinates continuously refreshed by the datalink then uses the seeker before hitting target. The time of flight of the missile is
indicated on the HUD and the datalink duration appears as a decreasing camembert plot.

Precision attack

The simulated LGB attack using GBU-12 against the Faraman beacon at the south end of the Rhône delta
will highlight this demonstration. Philippe Rebourg begins by a run at medium height ; first action : he has to acquire an offset point to update the nav system. The nav system knowing precisely the coordinates, the
bearing and distance of the target from this offset point will compute precisely the weapon release point.

At 20,000 ft and 15 NM from Port Saint Louis where a jetty will serve as the offset point, the OSF is locked on and the laser rangefinder is briefly activated and determine the distance. After being positioned the pilot authorizes the attack by pressing a trigger on the sidestick and the computer release 3 of the 4 GBU-12 simulated. ‘With the GBU-12, the release domain is small. The pilot has to follow the crosshairs’.

For a second attack, in a toss, we fly 20 NM away before coming back to the beacon. At 18,000 ft Philippe Rebourg roll inverted and dive at 23°. With a command on the throttle, he places the designation diamond
on the triangle marking the target position calculated by the system. He uses the zoom function of the OSF to aim more precisely, as soon as the order is given on the HUD he pulls up at 5.5G following the guiding crosshairs, the last GBU-12 is released. The manoeuvre brings us at 10,000 ft out of range of
short range missiles and AAA.

Aerobatics

Thanks to her FBW the Rafale is extremely manoeuvrable. Depending on the configuration there are 2 flight domains : air-to-ground with heavy loads (5.5G max and 160°/s roll) or air combat (9G max and 280°/ s roll rate) In emergency case the max load factor can reach 11G.

During test flights for opening the flight envelope at very low speed the aircraft flew at an incidence of more than 100° and at negative speeds of ’40 knots without loss of control.

‘We consider that firing after a brutal nose-up like a Cobra are risked during combat because weapon separation problems can arise and pilot can be in a very dangerous situation if he fails to destroy his opponent(s). We prefer to use a very agile weapon, like the MICA and a helmet mounted sight’ says Jean
Camus, test pilot and ex-manager of the EPNER 5french test pilot school) and former M2000 test pilot.

Air to ground radar and combat.

We take the direction of Istres to acquire a low altitude radar map by using the DBS (Doppler beam sharpening) function of the RBE2. With this function, the pilot can approach an objective at low attitude, pop-up briefly to record the mapping then dive to cover and work on the memorised image.
The DBS will be superseded by a SAR mode giving an even more detailed image. The controller signals a Mirage 2000N being about to cross our flight path from the left. By a single action on a button on the throttle, the pilot activates the combat mode and the 2000N is immediately
locked by the RBE2 while working in the ground mapping mode. With the integration of an helmet mounted sighting unit on the F3 standard, this acquisition (although extremely rapid) will be even quicker for
objectives situated outside the radar FOV and alleviating the need for agressive manoeuvres.
The seeker of one of the Magics lock the target and Philippe Rebourg turns aggressively in order to fire. A few second later, all is finished and M2000 fate is decided.
The feminine voice of the vocal system signals the Bingo, sadly, it’s time to come home. First action :decrease speed. This is done by pulling back the throttle, braking and unlatch the autothrottle : this system adjust the lag of all aerodynamic surfaces and the thrust of the engines to follow a very precise slope.

In the last turn Philippe Rebourg takes control and take carefully contact with the runway. While he maintains a nose-up attitude, he lights the afterburner on and pull firmly on the stick : we go vertical !<

Short landing : at 120 knots the aerodynamic braking is not that efficient and Dassault test pilots advice to immediately putt the main gear on the runway in order to brake quickly. The aircraft stops in less than 500m.

former BAe AirOps director Chris Yeo (Flight International 1999 )