Zephyr Net

In the space of three months, the Rafale has obtained three wins in a row for export. After Egypt and India, it was the turn of Qatar to rule in favor of the French fighter. The news was confirmed in a statement that on April 30, the President of the Republic François Hollande. The small Gulf state will thus commit to the purchase of 24 Rafale from Dassault Aviation, for more than 6 billion euros.

With this contract, which must be finalized on 4 May in Doha, Rafale International orders will reach 84. They now account for almost one third of total sales of the Rafale, with 180 aircraft already purchased by France (with a final target of 225 combat aircraft, as defined by the White Paper of Defense in 2013).

So successful that will put new strains on Dassault Aviation at the production. The manufacturer will have to make a ramp-up to honor those contracts. Perhaps France will it pause deliveries Gust, which will not be without consequences for the ability of the air force .... This could be achieved by opening a second Assembly line. At present, only 11 devices are produced every year (2013 figures and 2014).

Dassault has yet to deliver forty aircraft to France - pending possible additional order. Egypt will receive its first copies this summer. they will be taken from the aircraft quota for the French Air Force in 2015. Deliveries are expected to begin in Qatar in 2017, while India is still negotiating its calendar. New Delhi seems nevertheless eager to see his first aircraft arrive.

To recap, Egypt had been the first to commit to 24 aircraft to everyone's surprise, 16 February 2015. It was followed by India on 10 April with an announcement of 36 copies (out of frame of the tender MMRCA), the contract should be finalized soon.

Meteor missile completes integrated flight tests on Rafale



Teams from the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA), Dassault Aviation, MBDA and Thales successfully completed the final guided firing (integration flight test) of the Meteor long-range air-to-air missile against an air target from a Rafale combat aircraft.

During the test, which took place at the DGA’s Biscarrosse Test Centre, the Meteor successfully engaged and destroyed “at very long range” a high-speed air target (Mirach) simulating an evading fighter aircraft.

This fifth, global firing completed the two-year integration flight testing campaign of the Meteor air-to-air missile on Rafale. Performance is described as better than expected. All functionalities were successfully tested (such as the activation of the data-link between the Rafale and the missile) in numerous aircraft flight conditions (speed, load factor) and electronic warfare environment.

Just after the Meteor firing, a (simulated) firing of the currently-used MICA (RF) air-to-air missile was triggered to demonstrate that the Rafale and its crew can efficiently manage a multi-target situation, and then engage the enemy with multi-firings.

Equipped with a throttleable ramjet motor and featuring a “fire and forget” firing mode, Meteor is intended for very long BVR (Beyond Visual Range) air defence operations.

Thanks to the extended range capability of its RBE2 Active Electronically-Scanned Array (AESA) radar, the Rafale equipped with Meteor will be able to intercept targets at very long range from 2018 (Rafale “F3R”), complemented by the MICA (RF/IR) missile, both for combat interception and self-defense. For now, the Rafale is the only European combat aircraft in operational service to incorporate AESA radar technology.

Aero India 2017: Dassault looking for more contracts



Dassault CEO Eric Trappier during Aero India 2017 about the company’s objectives in India. Some excerpts:

On Indian perspectives, following the signature by New Delhi of a contract for 36 Rafale fighters:

“This contract is the result of a lot of hard work. Declarations by the Indian Air Force over the past several years, along with recent declarations by the minister of defence, including here at the show, show that the Indian requirement is substantial.

We want to follow on with additional contracts. Whether for the Indian Air Force or perhaps for the Indian Navy, which recently issued a request for information for fighters for its current and future aircraft carriers.

In that respect, the Rafale has a unique advantage over all its competitors worldwide. It was designed from the outset to equip the French Air Force and to operate from the French Navy aircraft carrier.

So all its characteristics and its multirole capabilities place it in a very favourable position to meet this Indian requirement. It is the only aircraft in the world able to do so. The F-18 has only been designed for naval aviation, whereas the Rafale has been designed for air forces and naval aviation. This is a huge advantage. Moreover, the air force and navy versions are practically identical.

So I think that these initial 36 aircraft should be seen as the first in a long line. And that is why we are investing in India, so that we can be present in this country, with our own production facilities.

These different contracts create work in France but also in India. It’s a real win-win strategy for both countries.”