Will those new Rafale be F4.2?

In Sweden, the development of the Gripen E continues. Between its first flight in June 2017 and October of last year, the prototype n ° 39-8 has made 20 flight. He has since equipped with a set of sensors required further tests. Ground trials are underway with including the carriage tilting tanks and weapons. The next flight test campaign should focus on the carriage of these external loads.

The following two prototypes (39-9 and 39-10) are being assemblies and should be available soon for testing. 39-10 will be used for testing of the tactical systems. Saab also announced that the first Gripen E series is already being produced.

auto-translated from: http://www.air-cosmos.com/singapore-air-show-2018-bientot-trois-prototypes-pour-le-gripen-e-106843

Canada will never buy a fighter not produced in the US. So it will be either the F-35A, F-35B, or the F-35C. Personally I think they will go for the F-35A.

Thales will also update Spectra’s solid-state jamming subsystem, which was one of the first to use electronically steered phased-array antennas. Carrara says for F3R, Spectra will include more powerful antennas, while further increasing the power supply so that more threats can be jammed simultaneously. Like Saab, Thales will use GaN technology because of its power and efficiency.

Is this from the 2014 article?

I am not sure if the GaN for F3R is still valid though — in the article I linked to above (from July 2017) I get the clear impression that GaN has been shifted to F4.2 (?)

Thales and the DGA are actively preparing the future radar developments that will be
introduced on Standard F4.2, incorporating cutting-edge Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology
for the radar and jammer antennas.

So will we see any new Rafale new customers this year?

I think no; however perhaps we will see India order some more?

If I recall correctly the IAF is paying quite a lot for the extras, so I assume it is something significant. Perhaps some of the Indian forum members can shed light on this? What was the amount and what was it about?

That is indeed the thing that bothers me with the scenario. Beyond the weapon and even the platform, and however effective and potent those may be , there are way more assets involved in SEAD/DEAD, for intelligence gathering notably which Belgium does not possess or does it ?. So the scenario and as it is stated, has only meaning within a coalition and more specifically an OTAN coalition .
Hence the question to any Belgium fellow on this forum , is it truly the ambition of the BAF to execute SEAD/DEAD mission for the OTAN based on intelligence from other members ( US most likely ) ?. I do not think sending 4 aircrafts at random or vaguely to an area for “opportunistic ” SEAD mission to be very likely and realistic .
Is there a supporting plan in Belgium for acquiring more intelligence gathering capability, like satellites or else to support the ambition of conducting SEAD/DEAD on their own ?

My understanding of the amazing capabilities of the F-35 is that it should indeed be able to complete a mission described in the Belgium SEAD/DEAD scenario.

The sensors of F-35 are truly amazing and together with the 5. gen sensor fusion the SA of a 4-ship of F-35 will be incredible. They will be able to locate and ID the threats by themselves. The stealth makes it possible to fly close enough to do the detection, localization and ID without relying on other intelligence sources.

A 4-ship of 4. gen fighter typically fly quite “close” to each other. A 4-ship of F-35 however willl fly with quite a large distance between each plane, and share information through the secure high-speed MADL link. Thus even just 4 F-35 will be able to cover a very large area.

My guess is that a mature 4.5 gen fighter like Rafale F4 can fly with a bigger distance between the planes compared to the traditional 4. gen fighters, but still need to fly much closer than what the F-35 is capable of. And the lack of stealth must be compensated for by a combination of stand-off weapons and jamming. This is why I think the F4 will be important to turn the Rafale into a “decent” SEAD platform. It’s probably not there yet.