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2022-02-01
RAFALE Power of Distinct Design
In modern warfare, air dominance is a must right from the word go, so that air-to-ground and air-to-sea operations can be conducted safely and efficiently. Literally meaning “Gust of wind,” the Rafale, presented by its makers Dassault Aviation as one of the world’s most powerful machines capable of thwarting challenges in the sky, seems to provide an apt answer.
The twin-jet fighter aircraft can operate from both an aircraft carrier and a shore base.
Since 2013, all Rafale “Omnirole” fighters have been delivered with the “Active Electronically Scanned Array” (AESA) RBE2 radar, a new missile launch detector and the “Front Sector Optronics” updated unit (FSO-IT), offering improved target detection and identification performance. Through F4 standard under development, connectivity is enhanced as well as the self protection suite (SPECTRA), the RBE2 radar (AESA), the FSO with a new “Infrared Search and Track System” (IRST) and the mission system with integration of new weapons.
The Rafale entered service with the French Navy in 2004 and with the French Air Force in 2006. With more than 58,000 flight hours in operations, it has proven its worth in combat in many countries.
Rafale is slated to become the sole type of combat aircraft operated by the French Air Force and French Navy. It’s the technical excellence that helps Rafale stand apart.
Recently, UAE has joined other countries like Greece, India, Egypt, Qatar, and Croatia in procuring Omnirole Rafale.
‘Omnirole’ Capabilities
When the Rafale programme was launched, the French Air Force and French Navy published a joint requirement for an “omnirole” aircraft that would have to replace the seven types of combat aircraft then in operation.
The new aircraft would have to be able to carry out a very wide range of missions:
Air-defence/air-superiority, Anti-Access/Aera Denial, Reconnaissance, Close air support, Dynamic Targeting, Air-to-ground precision strike / interdiction, Anti-ship attacks, Nuclear deterrence and buddy-buddy refuelling.
The requirements were taken into account from the start, leading engineers to invent an aircraft which goes beyond the needs of each type of mission. Versatile in all categories of missions, the aircraft has been termed a “Force Multiplier”.
Three Variants
The fighter is available in three variants:
The Rafale C single-seater operated from land bases; Rafale M single-seater for carrier operations; Rafale B two-seater flown from land bases.
All the three variants share a common airframe and a common mission system, the differences between naval and land versions being mainly limited to the undercarriage and to the arresting hook.
Flight Control System
The Rafale features a delta wing with close-coupled canards. In-house research in computational fluid dynamics has shown the specific benefits of close coupling between the wings and the canards: it ensures a wide range of centre of gravity positions for all flight conditions, as well as excellent handling throughout the flight envelope.
The close-coupled canards / delta wing configuration is key to the combat performance of the Rafale: even at high angle-of-attack, it remains fully agile, and its range performance in strike missions with heavy weapon loads is unmatched for such a compact design.
An advanced digital Fly-by-Wire (FBW) Flight Control System (FCS) provides for longitudinal stability and superior handling performance. The FCS is quadruple redundant with three digital channels and one separately designed analogue channel, with no mechanical back-up: design independence between channels is key to avoiding simultaneous anomalies on all channels.
An Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (AGCAS) protects the pilot from any unintentional flight into terrain (FIT).
The Flight Control System of the Rafale attains the highest level of flight safety by leveraging on the extensive experience of Dassault Aviation in Fly-by-Wire technology: over one million flight hours without a single accident caused by the FCS.
The flight control system of the Rafale offers auto flight in terrain following mode in all weather conditions, allowing the Rafale to fly unobserved in the opponent’s airspace: an important survivability factor in a high threat environment.
The radar cross section of the airframe has been kept to the lowest possible value by selecting the most adequate outer mold line and materials. Most of the stealth design features are classified, but some of them are visible, such as the serrated patterns on the trailing edge of the wings and canards.
The Rafale airframe fatigue is monitored with the same gauge-free concept which has proved its worth on the Mirage 2000 fleet.
Composite materials are extensively used in the Rafale and they account for 70 per cent of the wetted area. They also account for the 40 per cent increase in the max take-off weight to empty weight ratio compared with traditional airframes built of aluminium and titanium.
New-gen Engine
The M88-2 is a turbofan engine offering a high thrust-to-weight ratio with easy maintainability, high despatch reliability and lower operating costs.
The M88-2 incorporates advanced technologies such as integrally bladed compressor disks (blisks), a low-pollution combustor with smoke-free emissions, single-crystal high-pressure turbine blades, ceramic coatings, and composite materials.
The M88-2 power plant is rated at 10,971 lbs dry and 16,620 lbs with afterburner. It is equipped with redundant Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC), which provides for carefree engine handling anywhere in the flight envelope: the throttle can be slammed from combat power to idle and back to combat power again, with less than three seconds from idle to full afterburner.
Launched in 2008, the M88 TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) programme was initiated to improve engine durability and bring support costs down. Safran Aircraft Engines upgraded the high-pressure compressor and the high-pressure turbine of the M88-2: cooling is improved and stronger components have been introduced, boosting durability by up to 50 per cent. Life expectancy between overhaul has been expanded for a number of modules, helping minimise the impact of planned maintenance on engine availability.
The M88 is the subject of a constant improvement effort by Safran Aircraft Engines, leading to the latest M88-4E version, which builds on the TCO programme. This version, which production deliveries began in 2012, offers a longer engine life.
Multi-sensor Data Fusion
What makes the essential difference is the Rafale’s multi-sensor data fusion process running on data provided by all the sensors of the aircraft. The multi-sensor data fusion concept implemented into the Rafale provides a full situational awareness with a lower workload allowing the pilot to act as a true tactical decision maker, rather than being only a sensor operator.
The core of these enhanced capabilities of the Rafale lies in a Modular Data Processing Unit (MDPU) incorporating commercial off the shelf (COTS) elements. It is composed of up to 19 flight line-replaceable units (LRUs), with 18 of them individually providing 50 times the processing power of a typical mission computer employed in previous generation fighters.
The MDPU is the cornerstone of the upgradeability of the Rafale. It allows a seamless integration of new weapons and new capabilities to maintain the warfighting relevance of the Rafale.
The multi-sensor data fusion provides a link between the battlespace surrounding the aircraft and the pilot’s brain with its unique ability to grasp the outcome of tactical situations and make sensible decisions.
Advanced Weapons
The mission system of the Rafale has the potential to integrate a variety of current and future armaments.
It has been cleared to operate the following weapons:
• The MICA air-to-air Beyond Visual Range (BVR) interception, combat and self-defence missiles, in their IR (heat-seeking) and EM (active radar homing): The MICA can be used within visual range (WVR) and beyond visual range (BVR);
• The Meteor very long-range air-to-air missile, The Meteor very long-range rocket and ram-jet powered air-to-air EM missile. Its combination with the Rafale weapon system is a real paradigm change in air to air affairs;
• The HAMMER (standing for Highly Agile and Manoeuvrable Munition Extended Range) modular, rocket-boosted air-to-ground precision guided weapon series, fitted with INS/GPS,INS/GPS/IIR (imaging infra-red) or with the INS/GPS/laser guidance kits. guidance;
• The SCALP long-range stand-off missile;
• The AM39 EXOCET anti-ship missile;
• Laser-guided bombs with different warheads from 500lbs to 2,000 lbs;
• Classic bombs non-guided;
• The 2500 rounds/min NEXTER 30M791 30 mm internal cannon, available on both single and two-seaters.
Load Capacity
With its 10-tonne empty weight, the Rafale is fitted with 14 hard points (13 on the Rafale M). Five of them are capable of drop tanks and heavy ordnance. Total external load capacity is more than nine tonnes (20,000 lbs.). Hence, Rafale can lift the equivalent of its own empty weight in payloads.
“Buddy-buddy” refuelling missions can be carried out in portions of the airspace out of reach of dedicated and vulnerable tanker aircraft.
Affordable High-Tech
The Rafale does not have to leave its operational base for maintenance. Unlike on other types of fighter aircraft, the Rafale airframe and engine no longer require time-consuming and costly periodic depot-level inspections.
With 4,000 flight hours logged by Rafale “fleet leaders,” no structural parts have been changed, proving the robustness of the airframe and the maintenance concept costs.
A case in point is the modular M88 engine, made up of 21 modules: all maintenance and repair can be done by returning nothing more than modules or discrete parts to the depot or to the manufacturer. No balancing procedure and no run-up check are necessary before returning the engine to service.
Failure-prone systems have been eliminated early on in the design process.
There is no airbrake; the air intakes have no moving parts; the AC generators do not have any constant speed drive (CSD) and the refuelling probe is fixed in order to avoid any deployment or retraction problem.
All these result in reduced spares inventory, less man-hours and less ground support equipment.
Continuous Development
According to Dassault Aviation officials, the policy underpinning the Rafale programme is continuous development to adapt the aircraft to changing needs, through a succession of standards.
Engineering work is already underway to extend the air-to-air and air-to-ground capabilities and the connectivity of the Rafale well into the next decade.
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