Know Your 'Rafale'

[Sridhar]

French Navy Rafale Pilot Ejects At Sea during joint training with US Navy


On July 2nd 2012 off the Spanish coast in the Mediterranean,during air combat training with an F18 fighter from aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower, the pilot of a Rafale pilot belonging to "Flotille 12F" operating from French nuclear powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle had to ejected.

He was recovered by a U.S. Navy helicopter and was transferred aboard the French aircraft carrier where he received first care by the medical team.

An investigation was opened to determine the circumstances and causes of this accident.

Aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and her escort left Toulon on May 30, for a training deployment in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, which ends July 5, 2012.

On July 2nd 2012 off the Spanish coast in the Mediterranean,during air combat training with an F18 fighter from aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower, the pilot of a Rafale pilot belonging to "Flotille 12F" operating from French nuclear powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle had to ejected.
French Navy F-2 Rafale M and US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft
Archive picture
(Picture: US Navy)

USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, At Sea (NNS) -- While conducting coalition training in the Mediterranean Sea July 2, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) received a call of a downed French aircraft operating from the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R 91).

Upon notification, a Carrier Airwing 7 airborne helicopter from Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron (HS) 5, embarked on USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, was dispatched to provide rescue and assistance.

Once HS-5 arrived at the scene, they retrieved and transported the pilot to the Charles de Gaulle for medical treatment.

Sources: French Navy and US Navy
French Navy Rafale Pilot Ejects At Sea during joint training with US Navy

 

[Ankit Purohit]

Thats Great ,and one small message for pakistan just be careful rafale is coming to strike on your napak land

 

[Immanuel]

Rafale strangely seems to be having a lot of crash issues, between the Ef and Rafale, Rafale has a longer list of incidents and crashes, this is very alarming. Something wrong with the quality?
Are we buying into a crash prone culture? SH reamins the fighter with the best flight safety record so far.

 

[Drsomnath999]

FROM COMBAT AIRCRAFT MONTHLY AUGUST 2012

PICS COURTESY: OLYBRIUS
THANK U FOR PICS MATE

 

[Sarah Bruno]

Rafale strangely seems to be having a lot of crash issues, between the Ef and Rafale, Rafale has a longer list of incidents and crashes, this is very alarming. Something wrong with the quality?
Are we buying into a crash prone culture? SH reamins the fighter with the best flight safety record so far.

nothing is wrong with the rafale 's reliability.

from 2007 that de rafale is operationnal into the french air force, only one crash. No breackdown but a spatial disorientation. a manual revovery system was installed since this accident.

In the Navy, the Rafale is operational from 2002. the navy encountered 4 Crash. Is too much. But you have to look for the reasons of this looses.
A collision between two aircraft during night operation from de carrier
A crash into the sea after a very stupid breack down when all the fioul was ejected from the plane after a refueling
and for the last accident we dont know yet what happened. but maybe not a technical problem because the fleet whas not forbiden to flight.

 

[bhramos]

 

[prateikf]

Would the contract for purchasing Rafale be signed this year or after the general elections in 2014?
Given the fact that rupee has depreciated more than 20% in the last few months the value of the MMRCA contract would be greatly increased.

 

[Drsomnath999]

Raytheon demonstrates WiPAK® (Wireless Paveway™ Avionics Kit) on French Navy RAFALE aircraft

Raytheon Company successfully demonstrated a wireless method of integrating its combat-proven Enhanced Paveway™ II precision-guided bomb on the French Navy RAFALE aircraft. Called WiPAK®, the avionics kit enables integration of Paveway on a variety of aircraft without any modifications to aircraft wiring or changes to the flight and stores management software.

"With WiPAK, warfighters can easily and quickly provide targeting information, employ Paveway and gain all the benefits of a GPS/INS guided smart weapon for a fraction of what it would cost to integrate weapons through traditional means," said Harry Schulte, vice president of Raytheon Missile Systems' Air Warfare Systems. "WiPAK uses wireless connectivity technology similar to what is being used in laptop and tablet computers."

During the test, an Enhanced Paveway II GBU-49 was dropped from the RAFALE aircraft at the Biscarrosse test range in Southwestern France. The weapon system met all requirements during the demonstration and impacted the target well within the requirements.

"Enhanced Paveway II GBU-49 has been in operation with the French Navy for more than six years on their Super Etendard Modernise. EPII was used extensively during Operation Harmattan in Libya," said Schulte. "The success of the SEM program led the French Navy to investigate adding the Enhanced Paveway II to their next generation RAFALE fighter."

WiPAK consists of a small wireless transmitter, located in the aircraft cockpit coupled with a pilot interface, and a small receiver affixed to the Paveway weapon. The WiPAK allows the use of Raytheon's Enhanced Paveway II family of weapons on aircraft previously unable to carry such precision smart weapons. Raytheon's WiPAK is a combat proven system, used operationally on counterinsurgency aircraft. Raytheon is now testing and deploying the system on other similar aircraft as well as fighter jets.

About Paveway
Raytheon's Enhanced Paveway is a kit that transforms "dumb" bombs into precision dual-mode, GPS/INS and laser-guided "smart" munitions. The Paveway family of weapons is integrated on more than 17 aircraft in 42 countries. Raytheon has delivered more than 350,000 Paveway weapon kits.

picture from deagel.com

Raytheon demonstrates WiPAK® (Wireless Paveway

 

[Drsomnath999]

Rafale sets the pace for fast jets
FRENCH Air Force pilot Capt Michael Brocard is back in the skies above RAF Fairford to put the Rafale fast jet through its paces.

Last year he won the trophy for the best solo jet demonstration and among the aircraft vying with him for top honours this year is an RAF Typhoon, a Swedish Gripen and a Russian Yak-130.

Did you always want to be a fast jet pilot?

I really love the film The Right Stuff, about American test pilots and the formation of America's Space Programme so I have always wanted to be a fighter pilot, to fly fast, high and to pull many Gs.

What is the most difficult manoeuvre?

To pilot the Rafale with precision. When you are pulling more than 10G, the force on your body is immense.

Which other fast jet is the stiffest competition?

The Typhoon is very impressive and very powerful while the F/A-18 is also impressive.

Which other fast jet would you like?

I would like to fly as many other fast jets as possible. Fighter pilots are always curious about each other's aircraft.

Rafale sets the pace for fast jets | This is Gloucestershire

 

[Drsomnath999]

RAFALE'S PICTURE OF THE DAY

 

[Armand2REP]

^^ I got the hi res version of this as my wallpaper... looks REAL good.

 

[Neil]

^^ I got the hi res version of this as my wallpaper... looks REAL good.

can u post it here....want it too...!!

 

[Armand2REP]

I would if I could get the attachments to work. hold on while i upload it somewhere else...

http://depositfiles.com/files/ej7vv7dxu

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Indian MoD Clears Path For Rafale: Report

Dassault Aviation will heave a big sigh of relief. For now. The Indian Ministry of Defence has completed inquiries into a recent complaint about the selection of the Rafale in India's M-MRCA fighter competition, according a to Hindustan Times report today, and final negotiations are not on. The final negotiation process had been held up following a complaint received earlier this year.

Responding to a March letter by then Member of Parliament MV Mysura Reddy, defence minister A.K. Antony is quoted by Hindustan Times to have recently responded saying, "The issues raised by you were examined by independent monitors who have concluded that the approach and methodology adopted by the Contract Negotiations Committee (CNC) in the evaluation of the commercial proposals thus far, have been reasonable and appropriate and within the terms of the Request for Proposals (RFR) and Defence Procurement Procedure, 2006."

A separate report in The Tribune today suggests that while the inquiry, conducted by three independent monitors, has indeed concluded that all procedures were followed by the Contract Negotiation Committee (CNC), it is likely that the process will be looked at again by the Department of Defence Finance once final recommendations are submitted.

Livefist

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Indian MoD Clears Path For Rafale: Report

Dassault Aviation will heave a big sigh of relief. For now. The Indian Ministry of Defence has completed inquiries into a recent complaint about the selection of the Rafale in India's M-MRCA fighter competition, according a to Hindustan Times report today, and final negotiations are not on. The final negotiation process had been held up following a complaint received earlier this year.

Responding to a March letter by then Member of Parliament MV Mysura Reddy, defence minister A.K. Antony is quoted by Hindustan Times to have recently responded saying, "The issues raised by you were examined by independent monitors who have concluded that the approach and methodology adopted by the Contract Negotiations Committee (CNC) in the evaluation of the commercial proposals thus far, have been reasonable and appropriate and within the terms of the Request for Proposals (RFR) and Defence Procurement Procedure, 2006."

A separate report in The Tribune today suggests that while the inquiry, conducted by three independent monitors, has indeed concluded that all procedures were followed by the Contract Negotiation Committee (CNC), it is likely that the process will be looked at again by the Department of Defence Finance once final recommendations are submitted.

Livefist

 

[skumar7777]

The cost per flight hour would have been a parameter in the MMRCA selection. Can any guru please compare the cost per flight hour of the Rafale vs competitors and our Su30 MKI? Also what is the projected cost per flight hour for the LCA?

 

[bhramos]

Indian Air Force's wait for combat aircraft may get longer - The Economic Times

 

[p2prada]

The cost per flight hour would have been a parameter in the MMRCA selection. Can any guru please compare the cost per flight hour of the Rafale vs competitors and our Su30 MKI? Also what is the projected cost per flight hour for the LCA?

No Air force gurus here. The last I heard IAF talk about MKI, they mentioned something about a $10000 for a per flight hour cost for MKI. It may have increased, but not by much.

Nobody knows about LCA's costs.

 

[p2prada]

Indian Air Force's wait for combat aircraft may get longer - The Economic Times

Why should India buy a combat aircraft that no other country has purchased?" he had written.

Mig-29, Mirage-2000, Jaguar, Ouragans, Gnat and Mig-21s. We were the first customers for all these aircraft.

This is what happens when "idiots play war."

What a lame reason to delay the process.

 

[bhramos]

Nobody knows about LCA's costs.

LCA is a small plane like Nano, definatly it would have less maintainance , but MKI is like Tata Safari... it would have more functions and more maintianance....