Leaving aside the DASS vs SPECTRA argument, the chart doesn’t compare the systems listed. The MICA-EM for example isn’t ‘comparable’ to the AMRAAM, but they’re both there. Basic Reccelite functionality has already been demonstrated on the Eurofighter. I believe a fuller integration is ongoing as a part of the P1E upgrade.

Demonstration of “basic capability” (whatever that means) isn’t the same as operational capability.

MICA is the BVR weapon of the Rafale and is given at ~100km max range on the AdA website. While it might not be as capable at that distance as the new AMRAM’s variants, it’ll still be the BVR weapon of choice of the Rafale until METEOR is available. Its agility and dual seeker head makes it “comparable” with other BVR weapons including the AMRAM even if it doesn’t share its max range. Otherwise following your reasoning one should not compare AMRAM with Russian BVR missiles which usually have far longer ranges.

EDIT: PS: RecceLite is a tactical reconnaissance system, while the RecoNG is a strategic reconnaissance system as well as tactical…

Add to that that such information are classified anyway and it would be very hard and foolhardy to try and get a exact number. Continual upgrades every now and then will further change these numbers. However, the laws of physic do not change because one would like it to be so. If true that because of its size and the technology used CAPTOR should in theory have a longer range (already compatible with METEOR) but with more limitation on swing-role capabilities, then because of the technologies used SPECTRA should in theory be more precise in geo-localisation, processing and analyse of threat emissions.

In addition because SPECTRA has been used in combat situation and various exercises more often and longer than DASS it should in theory be more mature although I’m sure both type beneficed a great deal from the Libyan experience.

I don’t think France will buy anything else but Damocles. While Libya may have shown that it needs improvement for urban and low collateral damage situations, that experience will only profit the XF development and I’m sure Thales will do its best to be able to propose it to India, the UAE etc. and as usual the French govt will support its defence industry no matter what.

@Vnomad: DASS currently doens’t do ELINT, and while Reccelite is operational on Tornados, it isn’t on the EFT yet.

A important reminder about why we may see strong political support despite constant rising cost…

Buying the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Caucus

The rhetoric emanating from these Members of Congress shouldn’t be surprising given their ties to the companies benefitting from the billions of taxpayer dollars spent yearly on the JSF.

JSF Contractor Contributions Flow to Members of the JSF Caucus

The primary contractors building the JSF—Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems and Pratt & Whitney—have contributed $326,400 to Members of the JSF Caucus in the first year of the 2012 election cycle, according to a joint analysis of campaign finance data by the Center for Responsive Politics and the Project on Government Oversight (POGO). These firms’ political action committees (PACs), which distribute campaign contributions to promote the contractors’ political goals, gave the average Member of the JSF Caucus $6,094—nearly double what they gave to the average representative not in the caucus ($3,077).

And, it’s not just the corporate PACs that are funneling money to these legislators; individuals working for these firms also disproportionately direct their campaign contributions to these representatives. In fact, thus far in the 2012 election cycle, the average member of the JSF Caucus has received nearly twice as much money ($706) from employees of the top four JSF contractors than the average representative who is not in the JSF Caucus ($387).

Even more telling is that the largest recipients of campaign contributions from JSF contractor PACs and individuals have gone to the co-chairs of the caucus, Granger and Dicks. Dicks has received $29,500 and Granger’s been given $45,700 from the JSF contractors, which, in JSF pricing, might roughly equate to one screw. (That may sound like a bit of an exaggeration, but given overcharges we’ve seen in other contracts, it might not be too far off.)
[…]
The JSF Caucus has another, perhaps more significant reason to lock in support for the JSF program: its Members’ home states receive a disproportionate share of JSF dollars, and, in turn, jobs for their constituents. In the face of seeing the JSF program cancelled, even the most impassioned supporters of unfettered markets, like JSF Caucus Member Scott Tipton (R-CO), will, without irony, raise the specter of mass layoffs as a defense of the program.

According to Lockheed Martin’s “Domestic Impact” estimates, the JSF has more than 1,000 suppliers spread over all but three states, and the program’s direct economic impact on these states is more than $6 billion annually.

But, this return of taxpayer dollars isn’t dispersed equitably amongst the states; it flows disproportionately to states represented on the JSF Caucus. In fact, more than 92 percent of the JSF’s “Domestic Impact” goes to the 18 states with Members on the JSF Caucus. It’s also telling that 12 representatives on the JSF Caucus, a quarter of all caucus members, hail from Texas—the second largest recipient of JSF money, behind only California.

Lockheed also provides figures for the amount of indirect monetary impact the JSF program creates in different states. But there have been questions about how Lockheed calculates both these and the direct impact amounts, with some evidence that their estimates have been overblown. Specifically, as journalist David Axe has pointed out, Lockheed arrived at its inflated figure of more than 95,000 American jobs being lost if F-22 production ended by making the erroneous assumption that all employees at F-22 subcontractors, many of which work on a variety of other projects, were working on the F-22.

Furthermore, it’s clear that lots of taxpayer money is being spent on the JSF and that JSF contractors have used the jobs argument as one of the main reasons to keep the money flowing for it. But some economists have found that defense spending is a poor way to create jobs compared to other types of government stimulus, be it spending on education or clean energy or tax cuts.

Until they get a serious threat of the program been cancelled LM will not make any serious effort to reduce cost. They only stopped lobbying for the F-22 because they knew they could play catch up with the F-35.

I don’t recall that article been posted here and since the topic was broached recently about Rafale’s capabilities during the Libyan air war, I think it provide a good summary.

F-35 Decisions Unfolded Without A Plan to Manage Unique Factors

The audit found that National Defence did not establish an appropriate plan with other federal entities for managing the unique procurement aspects of the JSF program. When it recommended that the government purchase the F-35, it applied the traditional procurement rules to an acquisition that in effect had already been decided by a sequence of earlier actions.

As a result, the process was redundant, with key approvals obtained after decisions were made. Public Works and Government Services Canada was not engaged in its role as the government’s procurement authority until late in the process, and it endorsed the decision to sole source the acquisition of the F-35 without required documentation and completed analyses.

The audit also found that National Defence did not develop full life-cycle costs for the F-35. The budget for acquiring the jet and operating it over 20 years is capped at $25 billion, and it does not include significant cost elements such as replacement jets. The Department did not provide parliamentarians with complete cost information or fully inform decision makers about risks created by problems encountered in the program.

“National Defence did not exercise the diligence that would be expected in managing a $25 billion commitment,” said Mr. Ferguson. “It is important that a purchase of this size be managed rigorously and transparently.”

Air strikes over Libya

Air strikes over Libya 1 February 2012

By David Cenciotti

[…]Leading the first strike in Libya to halt the loyalist advance on Benghazi on March 19 and operating from both land bases (Solenzara, in Corsica, and later Sigonella) as well as the flight deck of the aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle, the Rafale proved to be, if not “omnirole” as advertised by Dassault, at least “multirole”, conducting Defensive Counter Air, Offensive Counter Air, reconnaissance, air-to-air refueling and also limited SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defense) strikes. Depending on the type of mission, the Rafale’s payload included four IR MICA missiles, GBU-12 Laser Guided Bombs and also some extremely interesting “hardware”, most of which were being used in combat for the first time, such as the Damocles targeting pod, the Reco-NG reconnaissance pod, and the AASM (SBU-38 and 54) “Hammer” which gave the French plane unprecedented operational flexibility and a true capability to be re-tasked in flight.

The Damocles is a high performance, long range multi-function targeting pod, whose size and features are comparable to those of the Sniper and Litening systems.

Besides the standard Forward Looking Infra Red navigation and target geo-localisation, and the typical air-to-ground usage with LGBs, INS/GPS-guided and imagery-guided munitions, it can be used for post-strike battle damage assessment, target recognition and surveillance, and also for long-range day and night aerial target identification during combat air patrol, improving pilot’s situational awareness.

Operational on the fleet since October 2010, the Thales Reco-NG (or Airborne Reconnaissance Observation System – AREOS) was carried by the Rafale on about 45 per cent of all the combat sorties. The Reco-NG is an automatic all weather recce pod integrating new generation sensors and real-time Line Of Sight transmission capability by means of an encrypted data link between the two antennas on the pod and a ground multi-sensor image interpretation and dissemination system. Known as SAIM-NG and also integrated on the Charles De Gaulle aircraft carrier, the ground segment consists of an image processing and exploitation subsystems, capable of collecting, managing and dispatching high resolution photos with 3D rendition and video, and an analysis module for IMINT (Imagery Intelligence) analysis. The 950 kg 5-meter long pod, uses two sensors: the front optical wide-angle sensor is used for high and medium altitude photography at long and medium range while the aft sensor is used for low-altitude and very high speed.

The AASM (Air-to-Ground Modular Weapon) is a family of rocket-boosted precision guided munitions including different guidance and propulsion kits for bombs ranging from 125 to 1,000 kg. The version most commonly used by the French planes in Libya was the SBU-38 (Smart Bomb Unit) AASM 250, with hybrid inertial/GPS guidance, and the AASM-IR (SBU-64), combining INS guidance, GPS correction and terminal guidance by means of an infrared imager, for greater accuracy. By improving the capabilities of a standard GPS-guided bomb with the range of a stand-off missile the AASM is the only weapon of its kind that can be used day or night, under all weather conditions at a distance of about 60 km from the target, allowing the French pilots to engage the enemy forces well away from their air defenses. By combining its Spectra integrated defensive aids suite with the AASM-250 the Rafale was also capable of conducting SEAD-like missions identifying, designating and hitting enemy air defenses from outside the so-called SAM-ring.

Just out of interest, do South American governments get as exercised about French Guiana?

I’m not aware of any local claim about French Guiana. That place is a bit more like Scotland to France, than the Falklands are to the UK. If anything they might ask for their independence, but nobody will be foolish enough to attack it since the military presence is way more important than it ever was in the Falklands. Think about the military presence around the European space launcher, and all the French unit going there to train in jungle warfare… And then you’ve the mighty LE !