Rafale News

[Olybrius]

Air International , April 2012:

Rafale... young french and good looking , is Dassault fighter the world's most wanted ? (page 46/49)
Neither news nor infos in this article, it's just a analysis of Rafale's current propects based on journalistic sources sometimes well known sometimes not very reliable (Tactical Report).
The author (Jon Lake) is cautious but seems to have trouble to digest the recent success of the aircraft. (MMRCA, Swiss leaked evaluation)

[Olybrius]

India Dassault Jet Deal Still Months from Completion
Wall Street Journal , March 29

NEW DELHI – The Indian government Thursday announced what appears to be a likely delay in the closing of an estimated $12 billion deal to buy 126 fighter jets from France's Dassault Aviation SA.
The price negotiations alone could take about eight more months, and there would be "several other stages of scrutiny" before the deal to buy Dassault's Rafale is finalized, Defense Minister A.K. Antony said Thursday.

His statement comes two months after the Indian government on Jan. 31 declared Dassault as the lowest bidder for one of the world's largest-ever military aircraft contracts.
Just a day later, on Feb. 1, the French government said it hoped to seal the deal within six to nine months. But Mr. Antony Thursday said that the government is going slow on deals to modernize India's defense forces, as it wants to eliminate any chances of kickbacks or bribes.
"We have zero tolerance on corruption," he told reporters at a defense exhibition being held in New Delhi.
The March 29-April 1 exhibition has drawn participants from several countries--including France, the U.S., Russia and Singapore--to India, the world's largest importer of defense products.
Separately, junior defense minister M.M. Pallam Raju said critical issues such as where the jet will be assembled in India and transfer of technology from Dassault are still being discussed.
[...]

From:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...googlenews_wsj

For the "record":
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums...=1#post6103412

[Olybrius]

livefist(tweeter)
So, HAL already has the #Rafale on its production timeline

[Olybrius]

Rafale's Scalp/EG strike on Al Jufra airbase (lybia):






From:
http://www.air-cosmos.com/a-la-une/e...-al-jufra.html

More:




http://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/...iew/?service=0

[Olybrius]

R_euters Aerospace:
India defence minister denies French reports Brazil and India could co-operate on Rafale purchase - 'impossible' he tells Indian reporters
http://twitter.com/#!/*******Aero/st...62860438863874

It was Brazilian reports:
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums...=1#post6102083

[Olybrius]

No Progress On Rafale Until Inquiry Complete
Livefist,

Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony confirmed today that an inquiry was still on into the selection of the Rafale as L1 in the MMRCA competition (following a recent complaint by an MP), and that forward movement -- at least six more stages of scrutiny and process until contract signature -- would be held off until the inquiry is complete. Meanwhile, HAL seems pretty set on license building the Rafale That's their production vision up there I scoped at their pavillion at DefExpo 2012. More photos and stuff later tonight.

From:
http://livefist.blogspot.fr/2012/03/...l-inquiry.html
So every time an MP (or anyone) will come and say stupid things, they will open an inquiry ?

[S@ncho]

From:
http://livefist.blogspot.fr/2012/03/...l-inquiry.html
So every time an MP (or anyone) will come and say stupid things, they will open an inquiry ?

Sadly, the defence minister has a pretty clean image, which is not that usual among Indian politicians and therefore he wants to prove that especially this deal was clean as well. If there would be any real reasons for an inquiry he should do it, but these allegations were simply ridiculous.

[commonsense]

Sadly, the defence minister has a pretty clean image, which is not that usual among Indian politicians and therefore he wants to prove that especially this deal was clean as well. If there would be any real reasons for an inquiry he should do it, but these allegations were simply ridiculous.

I may be a bit naive, but I don't think the defence minister has explicitly said that negotiations are 'on hold'. One link says that any enquiries would proceed parallel to the ongoing negotiations. My guess is a lot of people are reading into one or two comments to the point of paranoia. That there would be multiple stages of vetting and negotiations has been known for a decade now.

[Olybrius]

Rafale F1 renovation started
Mer et Marine, 30 march

The images are impressive and give a good idea of ​​the scope of work. At the Atelier Industriel de l'Aéronautique (AIA) of Clermont-Ferrand , its on a cabin that seemed almost naked that Service Industrial Aerospace (SIAé) teams began working a few weeks ago. This aircraft is hardly recognizable, the M10, one of 10 Rafale F1 standard of French naval aviation. The modernization project of these devices has indeed begun. It must be remembered that the M1 to M10 were delivered urgently by Dassault Aviation from 1999 to replace the F-8P Crusader, whose last survivors were so out of breath. Constrained by the schedule of withdrawal of the old interceptors, Dassault has delivered to Navy aircraft with limited capacity, with the sole mission of air defense for the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. It was only from 2006 that the Rafale was able to conduct air-ground attacks with the arrival of the F2 standard with the M11, the aircraft became completely versatile with the F3 standard in 2008 (all F2 has since been retrofitted to F3 standard). In 2008, the decision was made to mothballed M2 to M10 Rafale, so 9 units, in order to modernize them later. Only the M1 continued to flight, for the benefit of Dassault at the the Istres air base, for testing new equipment.

Google translated from:
http://www.meretmarine.com/article.cfm?id=119261

[twinblade]

I may be a bit naive, but I don't think the defence minister has explicitly said that negotiations are 'on hold'. One link says that any enquiries would proceed parallel to the ongoing negotiations. My guess is a lot of people are reading into one or two comments to the point of paranoia. That there would be multiple stages of vetting and negotiations has been known for a decade now.

I saw that press conference live on TV, I too missed out the part where the minister said that the process would be put on hold.

[Olybrius]

Thales delivers first production RBE2 AESA radar to Dassault Aviation
Thales , March 30

Neuilly-sur-Seine – In February, Thales delivered the first series-produced RBE2 radar with active electronically scanned array (AESA) to the Dassault Aviation facility in Mérignac, France. The radar will now be installed on Rafale C137, the first Rafale with this new capability, which is scheduled for delivery to the French defence procurement agency (DGA) this summer. A comprehensive three-month flight test programme conducted with the first production RBE2 AESA radar at the Istres air base demonstrated the qualities of the radar and confirmed the expected levels of performance prior to delivery to Dassault Aviation.

The RBE2 AESA radar was delivered in line with the contract schedule, demonstrating the new radar’s technological maturity and further consolidating Thales’s European leadership in radars for combat aircraft.

The RBE2 AESA will give the Rafale a number of key advantages:

- Extended range for full compatibility with the latest-generation long-range missiles, such as the Meteor, combined with the ability to detect low-observable targets
- Higher reliability for reduced cost of ownership (no major maintenance is required on the active array for 10 years)
- Waveform agility for high-resolution synthetic aperture (SAR) imagery and increased resistance to jamming


The Rafale will be the only European combat aircraft under full-scale production with an active-array radar. The operational superiority of this omnirole combat aircraft, which was demonstrated most recently during Operation Harmattan in Libya, is now further assured for the full spectrum of French Air Force and Navy missions relying on the new technology.

FRom:
http://www.thalesgroup.com/Press_Rel...tion/?pid=1650

[Olybrius]

Air Fan n°400:

More than 30 pages about operation Harmattan !

For the record:
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums...=1#post6068413
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums...=1#post6080376

[Olybrius]

Indians propose partnership if Dilma chooses Rafale
Veja, March 31

Brasilia - In the bilateral meeting between Brazil and India, Hyderabad House, the Indian government informed the President Rousseff that if she opts for the purchase of Rafale fighters, similar to what India did, the Indians are interested in establishing a technology partner with Brazilians to set up a joint project of technology transfer. According to the offer, the Indian government's willingness to transfer the information they receive in relation to the Rafale, and the three countries - Brazil, India and France (the airplane manufacturer) could then work together in a project technology partnership.
[...]

Google translated from:
http://veja.abril.com.br/noticia/bra...pte-por-rafale
http://epocanegocios.globo.com/Infor...taj-mahal.html

[S@ncho]

MBDA advertise Brimstone for Rafale:






Looks like it's just a matter of time till it will be integreated as well.

[S@ncho]

BrahMos Considers All-New AShM For MiG-29K & MMRCA


BrahMos Corp. is looking to develop a new anti-ship missile with a smaller diameter and lighter weight than the present BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. The proposal, tentatively called BrahMos-3, is aimed at putting together a potent anti-ship/anti-surface missile for the Indian Navy's MiG-29K and IAF MMRCA.

Revealing plans for the BrahMos-3 today at Defexpo, BrahMos CEO Dr A. Sivathanu Pillai said the first test-firing of a BrahMos from a modified Su-30MKI (modifications by HAL) would take place by early next year.

http://livefist.blogspot.de/2012/03/...m-for-mig.html


Will be interesting to see what specs this version will have, but it should be a good addition to Rafales weapon pack.