I’m not being personal. I’m trying to keep this on the subject of the aeroplanes.

And yes, Fonky, you’re using an acronym that I’m not familiar with, so why not spell it out. RAF GIE. I’m not accusing you of being anti-British, I’m accusing you of being anti-Typhoon and of closing your eyes and your mind to the aircraft’s strengths. I’m happy to admit that both Typhoon and Rafale have strengths and weaknesses (that’s inevitable). You seem able to talk only about Rafale strengths and Typhoon weaknesses, which seems ironic when you’re trying to bring this argument down to one about bias and credibility.

And what exactly do you think isn’t supported by hard fact, that can be? In the course of my work I’ve spoken to people who’ve flown both aircraft, (I’ve also sat in both cockpits, and I’ve witnessed both rigs) and I’m reporting accurately what they’ve said about the MMI of both aircraft. Or are you disputing that the unstable Typhoon, with its longer canard moment arm is more agile than Rafale with its close coupled canards? Or perhaps you’re denying that Typhoon went out and demonstrated supercruise in the midday heat in Singapore first time out, when Rafale failed to do so in the evening cool? I’m not in any way claiming that Typhoon is superior to Rafale in every respect, I’m just highlighting particular areas in which it enjoys an edge, in order to correct the tired and ill-informed “Rafale is perfect/Typhoon is rubbish” stuff that seems so common on internet boards.

Typhoon has its weaknesses – most of them directly linked to the delays and poor programme management inherent in a quadrinational programme – and there is no doubt that the aircraft won’t be fully operational in the air to air role for another two years (and won’t reach its full potential for even longer), and will not have a robust ground attack capability for another five years. I have my doubts as to whether the PIRATE IRST will be operational even as soon as is currently planned (and it has slipped alarmingly), but the radar (though admittedly old fashioned in concept) is proving its capabilities in service. You might argue that as a radar with a mechanical array Captor has less growth potential than RBE2, but to ignore the CURRENT performance, cooling, and serviceability advantages over the relatively immature AESA is silly.

I’m more than happy to have a sensible, civilised debate, but this childish name-calling and refusal to budge from an indefensible ‘Rafale is perfect in every way’ position makes any such debate impossible and pointless.

Dear Fonky (or Gegene or THX, or Thunder, or Sampiax, or GN, or Gogo),

While I’m sure that you’re better connected with Flight than I am, and while I’m sure they ‘recon’ I’m not up to it, and while I’m sure that loads of my contacts are ‘amazed’ that I have not understood what they told me, what do you think I should do to restore my battered credibility?

Perhaps I could repeat the fawning and uncritical spin and exaggeration that you French spotters seem to love? Perhaps that would get the DGA back on my side (are they hunting me down even now, wanting to give me a damned good spanking for daring to criticise the best aircraft in the world, ever?). And who are the RAF GIE and why are they after me?

If only life were not so complicated.

Those LGBs, by the way, are blue because they are inert, not because they are dummies. Do you appreciate the difference?

Which do you think are most useful and most commonly used in the post Cold War world, cheap PGMs like EPW, or expensive stand off missiles like Scalp/Storm Shadow?

Which do you think are easier and quicker to integrate? (Hint: remember the UOR integration of Storm Shadow on Tornado?) A stand off missile pre-programmed preflight and launched against a GPS fix, or a ballistic weapon that has to be thrown into a relatively small basket before laser/GPS homing takes over (especially if you’re going to be autonomously guiding that weapon with an LDP)? Or an advanced next generation AAM?

Typhoon could get a quick and dirty Storm Shadow integration (if required) long before Rafale could get Meteor, and long before Rafale could get EPW and Litening, or an equivalent.

If you’re really worried about paying for what I write then why not just read Air Actualites and Dassault sales brochures – they’ll give you the kind of exaggerated, chest-beating, tub-thumping, uncritical coverage of Rafale that you’re after.

For normal people with open minds, I’d stress that Typhoon and Rafale each enjoy particular advantages and disadvantages. I’d happily reiterate that Rafale is a superb achievement for a single nation, and that it fits French requirements very well. It’s probably a better carrier aircraft than a marinised Typhoon would be, and it’s certainly a very good fighter bomber, with real air-to-GROUND capabilities that Typhoon won’t have for several years, though the lead the aircraft once had has been thrown away, as RAF Typhoons (alone) are starting to outnumber French Rafales in service. Nor is Rafale in the same class as an air-to-air aeroplane or as a swing role aeroplane. It doesn’t have the same MMI, it doesn’t have the same supersonic manoeuvrability, it doesn’t have the same low speed agility, and it won’t have Meteor until long after Typhoon.

Hmmm.

Many thanks, I’m sure.

Surely someone knows the answer to this?

anyone?

That’s an old, old picture. It’s not photo-shopped, it’s one of four EF GmbH released of the Flutter trials and was used in the last Paris show dailies (two years ago). The Italians have just done the flutter trials with four Paveways, and I’m told there are nice photos.

The one sure thing about Singapore is that Typhoon was not kicked out on radar performance.

Typhoon is, of course behind Rafale in terms of service status, but is clearly catching up fast, and is ahead in some key areas.

As to the MMI, just talk to anyone who has flown both rigs. I’ve seen both in action, I have talked to people who have done so, and to people who have flown both jets.

The key point isn’t whether Rafale is or isn’t marginally ahead, it’s that it’s every bit as much an ‘Almost Jet’ as Typhoon is.