Dassault Rafale
| Dassault Rafale | ||
|---|---|---|
 Dassault Rafale | ||
| Description | ||
| Role | Multi-role fighter aircraft | |
| Crew | 1 or 2 | |
| First Flight | 1986 (demonstrator) | |
| Entered Service | 2002 | |
| Manufacturer | Dassault Aviation | |
| Dimensions | ||
| Length | 15.30 m | 50 ft 2 in |
| Wingspan | 10.90 m | 35 ft 9 in |
| Height | 5.34 m | 17 ft 6 in |
| Wing area | 46 m² | ft² |
| Weights | ||
| Empty | 9,060 kg | 19,975 lbs. |
| Loaded | 14,710 kg | 32,430 lbs. |
| Maximum takeoff | 19,500 kg | 42,990 lbs. |
| Powerplant | ||
| Engines | 2 × Snecma M88-2 | |
| Thrust | 50.01 kN (mil.) 75.00 kN (aft.) | 11,244 lbs. 16,861 lbs. |
| Performance | ||
| Maximum speed | km/h | mph |
| Combat range | 1850 km | 1150 miles |
| Ferry range | km | miles |
| Service ceiling | 16,750 m | 55,000 ft |
| Rate of climb | m/min | ft/min |
| Wing loading | 320 kg/m² | 65.6 lbs/ft² |
| Thrust/Weight | 1.04 | |
| Avionics | ||
| Avionics | Thales RBE2 radar Thales Spectra aircraft survival system Thales/SAGEM OSF infrared search and track system | |
| Armament | ||
| Guns | 30mm DEFA 719B cannon | |
| Bombs | Conventional bombs | |
| Missiles | 8 AAMs - MICA, AIM-9 Sidewinder, AIM-132 ASRAAM, AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-ground weapons inc. MBDA Apache, SCALP EG ASMP nuclear missile | |
The Rafale is a French twin-engine delta multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. It is being produced both for land-based use with the French air force and for carrier-based naval operation with the French Navy. The aircraft has undergone a protracted development, for reasons mostly political and economic; the first demonstrator flight was in 1986 but the first production aircraft entered service only in 2002. No foreign sales have yet transpired.
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2 Variants |
In the early 1980s, both the French Air Force (ArmÃÂée de l'Air) and Navy (AÃÂéronavale) had a requirement (the Navy's being rather more pressing) to find a new generation of fighter, and their requirements were similar enough to be merged into one project. Collaboration with other European nations was considered, but soon rejected; France produced their own fighter, while the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain collaborated on the similar Eurofighter Typhoon.
Dassault was authorised to work on a technology demonstrator in 1983 named the Rafale ("Squall"). This Rafale A was rolled out in late 1985 and flying in mid 1986. The SNECMA M88 engines being developed were nowhere near ready, so the demonstrator flew with General Electric F404-GE-400 afterburning turbofans as used on the F/A-18 Hornet. The demonstrator impressed the French Ministry of Defence enough to place production orders in 1988. Further testing continued, including carrier touch-and-go landings and test-flying early M88 engines, before the Rafale A was retired in 1994.
Three versions of Rafale were in the initial production order:
History
The prototype Rafale C flew in 1991, the first of two Rafale M prototypes flew later that year, the prototype Rafale B flew in early 1993 and the second Rafale M prototype flew later that year. Catapult trials were initially carried out at NAS Lakehurst in New Jersey, USA, France having no land-based catapult test facility.
Initially the Rafale B was to be just a trainer, but Gulf War and Kosovo experience showed that a second crewmember is invaluable on strike and reconnaissance missions, and therefore more Rafale Bs were ordered, replacing some Rafale Cs. A similar decision was made by the Navy, who initially did not have a two-seat aircraft on order; this was at first called the Rafale BM but soon became the Rafale N.
Political and economic uncertainty meant that it was not until 1999 that a production Rafale M flew. The marine version has priority since the aircraft it is replacing are much older, especially the Vought F-8 Crusader fighter which is a 50 year old design. Service deliveries began in 2001 and the first squadron became fully operational on the Charles de Gaulle in 2002
This was a technology demonstrator that first flew in 1986, as described above. It has now been retired.
Dassault used this designation (D for discret or stealthy) in the early 1990s for the production versions for the Armée de l'Air, to emphasize the new semi-stealthy features they had added to the design.
This is the 2-seater version for the Armée de l'Air; to enter service in 2004.
This is the single-seat version for the Armée de l'Air; to enter service in 2004
This is the carrier-borne version for the AÃÂéronavale, which entered service in 2001. Very similar to the Rafale C in appearance, the M differs by:
The initial deliveries have been F1 (Fase 1 - Phase 1) aircraft, capable of only air-to-air combat with no air-to-ground capability, to replace the ageing F-8 Crusader in the carrier-based fighter role. Additional deliveries of F2 air-to-ground capable aircraft will replace the Dassault Super Etendard in the attack role and the Dassault Etendard IVP in the reconnaissance role, leaving the Rafale M and Rafale N as the only armed fixed-wing aircraft flown by the AÃÂéronavale. F3 aircraft will have terrain-following 3D radar and nuclear capability.Variants
Rafale A
Rafale D
Rafale B
Rafale C
Rafale M
The Rafale M weighs about 500 kg (1,100 lbs.) more than the Rafale C. Unusually for a carrier-based plane, it does not have folding wings. This was to save money by increasing commonality with the land-based Rafales.
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