Rafale 2018 Thread: Europe's best Eurocanard

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6 years 11 months

Posts: 57

Thank you Halloween.

LAtest Dassault's ox three. Interestin tidbits about radar future.

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/dae...mg/fox3_19.pdf


Where can I access the earlier Fox 3 magazines. The archive section in Publications is absent on the updated Dassault aviation site.

Member for

18 years 10 months

Posts: 4,472

As it had been previously
the case in Iraq, reconnaissance
missions were flown first, but
Rafales soon switched to kinetic
engagements to disrupt Daesh
activities in Syria and to support
Syrian democratic forces.
Until

My childhood dream was to be a fighter pilot. Now I'm glad I'm not.

Nic

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12 years 10 months

Posts: 2,661

Does anyone have any photos of a Rafale with AAMs on the centre hardpoint? Like so -

http://nancyetroland.free.fr/public/PhotosMilitaires/rafaleAA-Mica.jpg

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18 years 10 months

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Those hardpoints are not open yet.

Nic

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13 years 1 month

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[ATTACH=CONFIG]258716[/ATTACH]

It was at the time of rafale A although the possibility exists today but has not been cleared.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]258717[/ATTACH]

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24 years 2 months

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Can Mica be ejector launched? Or is it only rail launched?

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13 years 1 month

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Both

Ejector launched under fuselage, rail launch under wings.

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19 years 11 months

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What is the difference beetwen an old and bad Rafale drawing and a newer and much better one ? :dev2:
A :

[ATTACH=CONFIG]258772[/ATTACH]

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What's the diameter of RBE-2 ?

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13 years 1 month

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There is no official data regarding RBE2 exacts diameter. The only official statement from industry (in fox three magazine from Dassault) is that there are more than 1000 AESA modules. In a former interview with a Thales employee in the weekly Air & Cosmos, current RBE2 AESA radar was described as similar in performance as the APG-79. You won't find many more official info from the industry or French military. Pictures released are Photoshoped.

RBE2 AESA NG is coming and is due to be ready in the 2020's.

The DGA oversees a number of research programmes aimed at promoting advanced technologies for the Rafale in the field of sensors, especially for the RBE2 radar, as the Rafale Programme Director explained.“We will soon launch the AESA NG programme, which will supplement the MFA [Multi-Function Array], CARAA [Capacités Accrues pour le Radar RBE2 à Antenne Active,enhanced capabilities for the active RBE2 radar] and MELBAA [Modes et Exploitation Large Bande pour l’Antenne Active, wide-band operating modes for the active array] projects in order to help mature technologies to be produced from 2025 for Standard F4.2. “The CARAA demonstrator first flew in late 2015. It is composed of numerous receptors, enabling the creation of radar lobes optimised by advanced calculation techniques to cancel jamming in many directions simultaneously. “The first flight of the MELBAA demonstrator is expected in late 2017. The trials will focus on dedicated types of targets: slowmovers, helicopters, fighters hiding in the Doppler beam, stealth targets etc. Further developments will include interleaved modes that will be further refined thanks to the appearance of a new generation of calculators powerful enough to provide the processing power required to exploit these modes fully.”

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What's the diameter of RBE-2 ?

55cm give or take (IIRC).

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10 years 5 months

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What's the diameter of RBE-2 ?

Several RBE2 mock up including the one in Thales product card have 838 T/R modules
http://www.f-16.net/forum/download/file.php?id=25194&mode=view
RBE2 product card
And Rafale nose cone is similar to F-16 in size. Slightly narrower but it is a round shape while F-16 nose is more oval. Don't forget that the cone is in front of the IRST.
http://rafalefan.e-monsite.com/medias/images/luke-6.jpg

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12 years 1 month

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And Thales specified several times they were dummies... AND that the number of moules was more or less 1000. But of course counting dots on internet photographies is more credible than Manufacturer's specifications. Same for the 55cms value. The real value is classified so drop 55cms.

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10 years 5 months

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And Thales specified several times they were dummies... AND that the number of moules was more or less 1000. But of course counting dots on internet photographies is more credible than Manufacturer's specifications

Mock up dummy are often the model of the real thing without the internal parts. The dummy fit inside a real Rafale too. Several mock up of the RBE2 all have the same exact modules count down to rivets position. So hard to blame people trusting that than generic statements.

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13 years 1 month

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Mock up dummy are often the model of the real thing without the internal parts. The dummy fit inside a real Rafale too. Several mock up of the RBE2 all have the same exact modules count down to rivets position. So hard to blame people trusting that than generic statements.

Often but not always the case. Let's take Dassault Aviation official words on page 14 of Fox Three n°9 :

http://kovy.free.fr/temp/rafale/pdf/fox3_11.pdf

From 2012,
current electronic scanning
RBE2 radar will be fitted with
a new generation Active
Electronic Scanning Array
which will offer increased
detection range and better
angular coverage in azimuth.
The Thales AESA will prove
ideal for operations with
the Meteor, a long-range
interception missile now being
tested by MBDA. The AESA
radar array will be made up of
more than 1,000 transmitter/receiver
modules
so
that several can fail with no
significant degradation in acuity.
It will further contribute to the
Rafale’s excellent reliability
.
The RBE2’s open architecture
will facilitate upgrading, and
the new AESA array is totally
‘plug and play’, switching from
the passive to the active array
configuration taking less than
two weeks.

Actualy DSI Hors Série N°6 June/July 2009 page 30 tells exactly 1001 modules. 1425 for the Typhoon by the way.

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1425 for the Typhoon by the way.

1620+ for the F-35

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Same for the 55cms value. The real value is classified so drop 55cms.

Err.. the size of the antenna isn't classified. And its entirely independent of the T/R density.

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8 years 5 months

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Err.. the size of the antenna isn't classified. And its entirely independent of the T/R density.

You forgot that along with Spectra Dassault perfected the Tardis effect for nose cones... ;)