okay so you are saying that Rafale is superior to Mig29K
so lets compare the two aircraft.
Max speed of Mig29K-Mach2+ ( and it has been tested to go faster)
Max speed of Rafale-Mach 2 and not faster ( Mig29K wins )
Wong info!
MIG-29K> 2,200 km/h, 1,370 mph
Rafale> 2,390 km/h, 1,290 knots
the Range..
Rafale> 3,700+ km (2,000+ nmi)
MIG-29K> 2,000 km (1,240 mi)
Hard Points for Mig29K- 8 with 5500kg payload
Hard points for Rafale -13 with 9000kg payload ( so here rafale wins but there is a catch , max payload of rafale will only be possible when there is steam catapult launch method ,otherwise it comes down to 6000kg ,slightly higher but no tactical gain )
There is nothing like reducing to 6000kgs, Its Regular payload is 9500kg which included triple pylons which occupies only one station, in several simulations (Red Flag, or recently in the UAE) it performs exellent in SEAD missions. The Mig lacks a long range cruise-, or
stand off missile, like the Kh 59 that the MKI has, the Rafale instand has the Scalp, that even with reduced range for India, will be superior than anything the Mig can offer.
about radar , not enough information in public domain to come to conclusion which radar is better ,however since Zhuk-A is already developed ( ASEA radar and the next upgraded will come soon into testing and active deployment ) and thales RBE2 AA is in development , so we can conclude that Zhuk A is better
Presently or in past none of the Aircrafts were armed with AESA, But PESA now we compare both PESA radars..
MIG-29K> The Zhuk-ME is an advanced variant of the original N010 Zhuk radar introducing advanced air to surface functions like mapping and terrain following. The radar forms part of the MiG-29K specific equipment. The radar features improved signal processing and has a detection range of up to 120 km vs a 5 m2 RCS target for the export variant, and up to 10 targets tracked and up to 4 attacked at once in air to air mode.[19] The tracking range is 0.83 - 0.85 of the detection range. In air to surface mode the radar can detect a tank from up to 25 km away and a bridge from 120 km away, a naval destroyer could be detected up to 300 km away and up to two surface targets can be tracked at once.
Rafale M> RBE2 (Radar à Bayalage electronique deux plans) stands for two-dimensionally, electronically-scanned antenna. For air-to-surface attack, this LPI (low probability of Intercept)radar has terrain-following, terrainavoidance and treath-avoidance modes, plus high-resolution mapping, navigation updating, target aiming, search and tracking of moving or fixed targets and ranging.
When Rafale is used as an interceptor, RBE2 will automatically select high, medium or low puls repetition frequencies for best reception. Search range against a typical target is some 100km (54nm), even in look-down mode and targets are automatically interrogated for IFF. A multimode radar system, the Thales (previously Thomson-CSF) "Radar a Balayage Electronique 2 (RBE2)". It uses a phased array (electronically steered) antenna, has a range of up to 100 kilometers (60 miles), and is advertised as the first "look-down / shoot-down" airborne multimode phased-array radar developed in Europe. The RBE2 can track up to 40 targets and engage up to eight of them at once with the MICA EM, performing automatic "identification friend or foe (IFF)" interrogation when in dogfight mode. It also supports air-to-surface attack for both ground and naval targets, as well as navigation and automatic terrain following modes, and can operate in intense jamming environments. Functions such as terrain following can be used while tracking targets elsewhere. A "synthetic aperture radar (SAR)" mode is also being developed to provide a radar imaging capability for targeting and reconnaissance.
AESA>
Rafale>
The French government has cleared full technology transfer of the Rafale to India, including that of the RBE2-AA Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar and the transfer of software source codes, which will allow Indian scientists to re-programme a radar or any sensitive equipment if need, While "This milestone marks the latest step toward qualifying the RBE2 AESA radars this
year in readiness for delivery of the first two units to Dassault Aviation during the first quarter of 2010,"
MIG-29K>
Zhuk-A (Export Designation Zhuk-AE) The latest incarnation of the Zhuk radar family featuring an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA). The radar uses 680 4 channel transceiver modules with a power output of 5 watts per channel.
^ NO conformation of operational use..
so at the end comes the price of both the aircraft Mig29K is 46.25 million including spares and support whereas RafaleM ( the carrier version ) is 70million flyaway cost with no spares and support and now the conclusion
I don't remember we have any kind of spare-parts problem with Dassult MIR-2000 in IAF..
Besides what most important thing Mig
lack is a pure stand off weapons, Regarding Fire & Forget tech Westerns are light years ahead..
MIG-29K>
* Kh-25ML
semi-active laser guidance with tandem warhead that can penetrate 1 metre (39 in) of concrete, 10 km,
* Kh-29T
TV-guided air-to-surface missile, 12 km,
* Kh-35U long-range
active radar air-to-surface missile, 130 km,
Rafale>
1> Storm Shadow is an air-launched cruise missile, over 250 km, Inertial, GPS and TERPROM. Terminal guidance using imaging infrared..
2> AASM 15km (very low altitude launch), more than 60km (high altitude launch), Hybrid GPS/INS
3> Joint Direct Attack Munition..
4> MBDA Apache..
