Page 48 - Latinaero_magazine_issue_02_March_2012

48 Latinaero magazine Número 2 - 2012
Rafale, a fm de concorrer internacionalmente como a melhor
ferramenta “made in France” disponível. Como resumido por
Stéphane Reb da DGA: “Nosso objetivo é manter o Rafale no
mais alto nível de desempenho e interoperabilidade. Como é hoje,
a arquitetura e plataforma da aeronave mostram que o Rafale
não precisará de nenhuma alteração de hardware adicional
antes de sua atualização de meia-vida (MLU), que deve ocorrer
por volta de 2025. No entanto um guia detalhado (ou feuille de
route , em francês) para a aeronave ainda tem que ser criado”.
Equipamentos adicionais estão em desenvolvimento a fm de
aumentar a letalidade do Rafale.
A fghterplane for the 50 years to come
Current plans call for the Aéronavale to fy three fottilles of Ra-
fale Ms after 2015 and the Armée de l’Air some ten squadrons
of Rafale C single-seats and Rafale B duals by 2020.
For instance, and after 2015, the Rafale will be the Aérona-
vale’s only fghter type, once the long in the tooth Dassault
Super-Étendard “modernisés Standard 5s” of Flottille 17F at
Landivisiau stand down.
In early 2012, the French Navy musters two fottilles of
Rafale Ms (12F and 11F) operating in turn from the aircraft-
carrier Charles-de-Gaulle. While the fate of Flottille 17F as the
third RafaleM squadron is not certain, Flottilles 11F and 12F
will in the end and after 2020 draw their frepower from a total
complement of 55 aircraft on hand. Such is the plan today.
On the French Air Force side, a total of fve Rafale squa-
drons now does exist: Escadrons de Chasse 1/7 “Provence”,
EC 1/91 “Gascogne” and ETR 2/92 “Aquitaine” at BA113 Saint
Dizier, EC 3/30 “Lorraine” at BA104 Al Dhafra in the United Arab
Emirates, and EC 2/30 “Normandie-Niémen” at BA118 Mont-
de-Marsan. ECE 5/330 “Côte d’Argent” at Mont-de-Marsan is a
further small squadron used by the Centre d’Expérimentation
Aériennes Militaire (CEAM) for the permanent evaluation and
updating of all Rafale’s systems and weaponry. As things are
set at this hour in time, a sixth Rafale squadron will be com-
missioned at BA702 Avord in 2013: EC 1/30 “Alsace”.
In early 2012, all existing Rafales – out of 106 built so far –
have been produced or retroftted to full F3 standard. Precisely
102 aircraft (four have been since lost to human fault: Rafale
B-316 by the Armée de l’Air in a night crash and three at sea
by the Aéronavale, aircraft M-18, 22 and 25). Of this provisional
total, 38 airframes delivered are Rafale B two-seaters.
Next standard of Rafale, now in early production status
(starting with Rafale C-137), is called F3+ (or F3-04T); it in-
cludes a new AESA radar (Thales RBE2/AA), a new 360° threat
detector (MBDA MAWS NG) and a new frontal sector optics
set (Sagem FSO-IT), all hi-tech items improving cockpit data
fusion and situational awareness at pilot’s level. At this stage,
this refned standard will also represent the export model of
the Rafale, in order to enter international competition with the
best “made in France” tool available.
As Stéphane Reb of DGA sums it all: “Our aim is to keep
the Rafale at top level of performance and interoperability. As
arranged today, the aircraft’s architecture and platform show that
the Rafale will not need any further hardware changes before
its mid-life update which should take place somewhere around
2025. However a detailed roadmap (or feuille de route, in French)
for the aircraft still has to be built”. Further equipments are being
developed to increase the Rafale’s lethality.
Main topics now under scrutiny are:
H in the navigation feld — the development by Thales of
a new and more powerful wider-feld laser designation pod
derived from the current Damocles.
H in the systems feld — altogether with improvement in the
aircraft man-machine interface, the adoption of additional
modes for the Thales RBE2/AA AESA radar; tactical date link 16
upgrades; and electronic warfare suite improvements on the
operações de guerra da OTAN
 O porta-aviões Charles de Gaulle (R91) com parte de seu efetivo de
caças Rafale próximo a costa da Líbia durante julho de 2011.
The French aircraft-carrier Charles-de-Gaulle (R91) with part of her Ra-
fale complement off the coast of Libya during July 2011. © J.-M. Guhl