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The RAFALE Omnirole Fighter: Pushing Forward on New Air-to-Air Capabilities In October 2012, the RAFALE omnirole fighter reached two major milestones: the first delivery of a production aircraft equipped with the first production RBE2 AESA radar, and the initial successful testing of the new-generation, very long-range, METEOR air-to-air missile. Pushing forward on new air-to-air capabilities, the Rafale B301, operating from Cazaux DGA Flight Test Center in southwestern France, successfully completed, on October 4 then on October 10, two successful tests of the beyond visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) Meteor. On December 22, 2010, the French defense procurement agency (DGA: Direction Générale...

Thunder at 100 feet: Flying France's Rafale Superfighter "We will now enter the yellow potato." "Excuse me?" I ask Sébastien Dupont de Dinechin, a Rafale test pilot, otherwise known to his fellow as 3D. "Yes, look at the Head Level display, we enter the area which looks like a yellow potato and then we 'pickle' the weapon." Most Recent Jism 2 makes Rs. 21 crore in opening weekend Five things that Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif have in common Also See 1:03 NDTV's forthcoming show - Futuretech: Warfare 0:45 Flying to 8.5G "And then what?" I ask. "And then we...

Indian aircraft carrier enters sea trials as navy eyes Rafale Russia has commenced sea trials involving the Indian navy's refurbished aircraft carrier the INS Vikramaditya, as sources suggest the service could consider a future acquisition of the Dassault Rafale. Originally built for Russia as the Admiral Gorshkov, with a maximum displacement of 43,500t, the refitted and modernised vessel left Severodvinsk in the north of the country on 8 June for open-sea trials, preceeding its delivery to India in December. Once operational, the Vikramaditya will be capable of carrying 30 to 34 aircraft, including RSK MiG-29K deck-based fighters. Eugenia Legostaeva Sources...

The Rafale's long flight to India The selection of Dassault?s Rafale as India?s new MMRCA fighter was only the latest step in the Air Force?s long and painstaking process to pick itself a winner Ajai Shukla / February 11, 2012, 0:03 IST Long after the streets emptied that chilly winter evening in December 1981, lights were burning on the fifth floor of Vayu Bhavan in the elite Operations Branch of the Indian Air Force. Worrying the brightest thinkers of IAF was a brash new arrival in the subcontinental skies. The US had just announced the sale of 40 F-16 fighters...

Brazil "very likely" to choose French fighter jet: sources SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil is "very likely" to choose France's Rafale fighter jet to refurbish its air force, government sources say, a decision that would award one of the emerging-market world's most coveted defense contracts to a jet whose future was in doubt only two weeks ago. President Dilma Rousseff and her top advisers believe that Dassault Aviation's (AVMD.PA) bid to sell at least 36 Rafales offers the best terms among the three finalists, the sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity. The other two bidders are Boeing's (BA.N) F-18...

Fighter deals intensify global aerial arms race * Lockheed buoyed by Japan, Dassault by India * Boeing, partners in Eurofighter also looking for wins * Opportunities eyed elsewhere in Asia, Middle East * Hunger for deals comes as Western defense budgets trimmed By Rhys Jones and Tim Hepher Feb 3 (Reuters) - Big decisions on warplane purchases by Japan and India have intensified competition in the multi-billion-dollar global market, with Western defense firms scrambling for orders in Asia and the Middle East as their home-country budgets shrivel. Growing international unease over China's military build-up and ongoing tensions between Iran and...

A scroll on the home page of the Times of India says that the French Rafale has beaten the Eurofighter for the 126 (and prolly many more) plane MMRCA deal.

S. Korea to buy 2 advanced spy planes from France SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea plans to buy two advanced reconnaissance planes from France by 2015, to allow the military to intercept radio messages from of North Korea, a government source said Monday. The South's military will replace some of its aging spy planes with the militarized specialty version of "Falcon-2000" jet, produced by France's Dassault Aviation, to keep closer watch on North Korea, the source said on the condition of anonymity. "The military decided to introduce two Falcon-2000 reconnaissance planes to replace its old spy planes that...

France warns of end of Rafale fighter jet production PARIS: France warned on Wednesday that defence giant Dassault would halt production of its Rafale multirole fighter jet if it remains unable to sell any abroad. "If Dassault doesn't sell any Rafales abroad, the production line... will be stopped" once France has received the 180 aircraft it has ordered, Defence Minister Gerard Longuet told a small group of journalists including AFP. France considers the twin-motor delta-wing Rafale a state-of-the-art warplane but has struggled to find any foreign buyers to support the project that has so far cost over 40 billion euros...

UAE criticizes 'unworkable' French fighter bid By ADAM SCHRECK, AP Business Writer – 5 minutes ago DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — France's Dassault Aviation is seeking unacceptable terms for the sale of up to 60 Rafale fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates, a senior Emirati military official said Wednesday, casting serious doubt on the future of the highly anticipated arms deal. The comments from the deputy supreme commander of the UAE's armed forces, Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, come just days after a different European defense consortium unexpectedly said it had been asked by the Emirati air...

#DXB11: Certain victory for Rafale turns uncertain So much for the rampant rumours (well, rampant throughout France anyway) that the UAE's long-delayed fighter contract was a done-deal for the Rafale. Everything we know about the United Arab Emirates fighter modernisation plans have turned upside down within the first 24h of the Dubai Air Show. Quick summary: Dassault Rafale still in, Saab Gripen still out, Eurofighter Typhoon made a surprise entrance, Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 60 is now lurking and Boeing throws F-15 Silent Eagle into the mix. And the UAE Air Force, meanwhile, confirmed it wants to buy a "next...

DUBAI: UAE issues shock Eurofighter Typhoon request By: Craig Hoyle Dubai France’s long-running campaign to sell up to 60 Dassault Rafales to the United Arab Emirates faces a shock last-minute challenge, with the Eurofighter consortium having been asked to submit a proposal based on its Typhoon combat aircraft. News of the development broke on the eve of the Dubai air show, where both types are scheduled to take part in the daily flying display. Sources have confirmed that the UK provided a formal briefing about the Typhoon to UAE officials on 17 October, after being asked to explore how it...

IN FOCUS: Middle East defence market keeps growing By: Stephen Trimble Washington DC A news conference by the elusive ministry of defence of the United Arab Emirates was announced unexpectedly on 18 November 2009. The Dubai air show was all but over, but now the MoD would meet with the press on the afternoon of 19 November. Until that moment it had appeared the air show - the most important aerospace industry event in the Middle East every other year - was a bust in terms of achieving clarity on several major defence orders. Entering the event, industry officials ­wondered...

India opens bids for combat planes India on Friday opened the commercial bids for the proposed deal to acquire 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft for the IAF Aman Malik, Elizabeth Roche & Tarun Shukla New Delhi: India on Friday opened the commercial bids for the proposed deal to acquire 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) for the Indian Air Force (IAF), but didn’t announce which vendor was lower on unit costs. Six vendors—Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. of the US, RSK MiG of Russia, Dassault Aviation SA of France, Saab AB of Sweden and European Aeronautic Defence and Space...

“Omnirole” Rafale Steals Lead Over Eurofighter Typhoon in Libyan Operations Our Bureau Tue, Nov 1, 2011 07:34 CET While NATO forces fielded the Dassault Rafale and the Eurofighter Typhoon in the UN-mandated war against Gaddafi’s forces in Libya, details emerging from briefings by the U.K. and French air forces about the use of their respective fighters tell that the Rafale was the primary attack plane while the Eurofighter Typhoon provided intelligence through its targeting pods. With the Libyan hostilities over, the Rafale and the Eurofighter Typhoon face off one another in an estimated $11 billion tender for India’s Medium Multirole...

Dassault uses Libya war to boost Rafale Published: Sept. 20, 2011 DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Dassault Aviation hopes to capitalize on France's participation with the United Arab Emirates in the air campaign against Moammar Gadhafi's crumbling regime in Libya to promote the sale of 60 Rafale multi-role jets to the Persian Gulf state. The leading French aircraft builder sent a team of executives to Abu Dhabi, the emirates' capital, Sept. 3 to kick start negotiations that have dragged on for three years. The deal is potentially worth $9 billion-$10 billion and Dassault is desperate to sign...

Will Lockheed's Rival Crash and Burn? By Rich Smith Investors know the saying: "Bulls make money, bears make money, but pigs get slaughtered." If you stumble onto a "good thing," don't get greedy -- take a fair profit. France's Dassault would be wise to heed that lesson. Yesterday, DefenseNews.com reported that Dassault has run into trouble in negotiations to sell the United Arab Emirates a fleet of Rafale fighter jets. The UAE wanted to purchase several dozen of the jets to replace its 63 French Mirage fighters. But a deal that was supposed to cost somewhere between $2.5 billion and...

France's Rafale fighter proves its 'omnirole' skills By Craig Hoyle France's Rafale fighter programme is midway through what could be a pivotal year in the Dassault type's potentially half-century service history. Already involved in NATO-led combat operations over Libya, the aircraft will return to frontline duty in Afghanistan inside the next two months. Its industrial backers are, meanwhile, edging seemingly closer to a long-awaited first export sale. One of three fighters now in production in western Europe, along with the Eurofighter Typhoon and Saab Gripen, the Rafale has been in French military service since 2004, when it entered use with...

Rafale Upgrade Ready in 2012 (Source: defense-aerospace.com; posted June 6, 2011) By Giovanni de Briganti CAZAUX, France --- The French defense procurement agency, DGA, is carrying out the final development tests of an upgrade package for the Rafale combat aircraft, including an AESA radar and improved electronics, that should be ordered next year by the French ministry of defense. The package, designated F3 04T because it is an off-shoot of the aircraft’s latest F3 standard, also includes a new-generation Radar Warning Receiver (DDM-NG) and an improved version of the OSF (Optique Secteur Frontal) electro-optical sensor. Upgraded Rafales will also be...

Dassault aims to seal €8bn contract with UAE Ivan Gale Jun 2, 2011 Dassault Aviation hopes to seal a proposed order for 60 of its Rafale fighter jets with the UAE worth up to €8 billion (Dh42.34bn), despite reports claiming engine specifications were a major sticking point. The ongoing sales campaign is now in its third year of negotiations and has been one of the most closely watched aerospace developments in the Gulf, especially by rival fighter jet manufacturers in Europe and the US. Charles Edelstenne, the chairman and chief executive of Dassault Aviation, said he was "always hopeful" of...