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RAFALE'S MINI ENCYLOPEDIA FOR IT'S FANBOYZ

Sagem’s Smart AASM Now Laser-Qualified

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The laser-guided version of the Sagem AASM (armament air-sol modulaire) air-launched “smart” weapon was qualified last month by the French air armaments agency (DGA) at the Cazaux flight-test center, and will soon enter service in France with operational squadrons of Rafale combat aircraft. It is intended primarily for use against mobile targets. Meanwhile, the French air force has revealed details of recent attack missions over Mali when up to 12 INS/GPS-guided versions of the AASM were salvo-fired within one minute against preplanned targets, to achieve maximum surprise. The weapon was previously fired over Afghanistan and Libya.


The AASM is a modular weapon, designated SBU-38 and named Hammer by NATO. The INS/GPS-guided version entered service in 2008, followed by an IR-guided version in 2011. It features a rocket booster that fires automatically to extend the range when required. In theory, there are four warhead-size options from 125 kg to 1,000 kg. But France has ordered only the 250 kg version to date, although the 125-kg version has also been qualified. Sagem hopes to export the weapon, notably to India in connection with the Dassault Rafale deal that is still in negotiation.

Following three developmental firings in 2010-11, three qualification firings were conducted last year, one against a fixed ground target from high altitude, another from medium altitude against a small vessel at sea and a third from medium altitude against a moving vehicle. The last “was a representative close-air support [CAS] mission,” according to Mathieu Chuiton, a DGA flight-test engineer. He described how the weapon was released from the Rafale that also designated the 90-degree off-axis target, at 10- to 15-km range. The test was deliberately conducted on a partly cloudy day, with the missile being initially guided toward the target by GPS, while the Rafale descended below the clouds to activate the laser of its Thales Damocles pod.

A Rafale can carry six AASMs, three on each of two underwing pylons. The Mali missions included one in which six AASMs were fired against munitions storage and training camp targets, and another in which two Rafales attacked 12 dispersed targets. The rebel forces “never expected so many of their buildings to be destroyed at once,” said the Rafale squadron commander who briefed journalists during a DGA media tour last week. He and other French air force officers noted that the AASM is more expensive than the GBU-12 laser-guided weapon that is also carried by the Rafale. But the French-designed weapon is more effective, partly thanks to a vertical attack mode that can be selected from the cockpit. The laser-guided version can also be used against targets moving at 80 km/hr–twice the limit of the GBU-12–and it is easier to operate from a single-pilot aircraft, the officers added.

Sagem

Do you have any info if in previous or any tests AGM or AAM are guided through HMD?

Or no test is done through this way?
 
Flight International , May 28; Rafale Aesa "Better performance than expected"

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Do you have any info if in previous or any tests AGM or AAM are guided through HMD?

Or no test is done through this way?

well as far as i know the no test has been done yet

But future plans are there here is a snipped pic
hope u can get some idea
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Do you have any info if in previous or any tests AGM or AAM are guided through HMD?

Or no test is done through this way?
Not sure about rafale, but there's video of AAM+HMD+Tejas in livefire exercise month back.
 
Not sure about rafale, but there's video of AAM+HMD+Tejas in livefire exercise month back.

IIRC, HMD of tejas is limited to certain degree, i think which is 60 degrees. Pilot tilted his head a little to right when missile was fired. The capability of firing over the shoulders (90 degree FoV) is still not achieved
 
COMBAT AIR CRAFT MONTHLY JUNE 2013 MAGAZINE UPDATE

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MALAYSIAN MMRCA NEWS

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INDIAN MMRCA NEWS

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Le Bourget 2013: Defence honor

No less than 2000 m2 of exhibition area, including 1,700 dedicated to materials presented its "static" as each edition of the Paris Air Show, the Ministry of Defence will benefit this year's event to showcase its material and skills, in a budgetary context that encourages more than ever to negotiate valuable export contracts for the future of some programs.
Visitors to the stand "defense" can discover many materials presented in size by French business: a Rafale, of course, but also a Mirage 2000D, a HAP Tiger, NH90-TTH and a battery of ground-to-air missile SAMP / T "Mamba". The DGA will present his side Mirage 2000 test used among others to test some equipment Rafale bench.
In addition, the Minister of Defence should take the show to announce with great fanfare the signing of a contract with NH Industries for the purchase of a second tranche of 34 NH90-TTH, although it was actually notified at the end of May.
Probably aware that the export of the Rafale is now a top priority to ensure the survival of the program, the DGA will present several preliminary studies programs (EAP) to evolve the French fighter aircraft and previously conducted in a very confidential.

This is the case of PEA Incas, which should lead to next year's first tests of a new antenna tamper Spectra system based on gallium nitride, but the PEA Tragedac aimed at improving passive detection capabilities of the Rafale. The idea is to increase the accuracy of locating an enemy using non-emissive methods (Spectra frontal sector optronics) and sharing information gathered in a patrol, for example via link 16.
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Dassault Rafale Coped Well With Mali Mission

For the Dassault Rafale combat jet, the French intervention in Mali provided another chance to demonstrate its multirole capability. Starting with a 3,400-mile interdiction mission (AI) launched from France on the night of January 13, up to six aircraft subsequently flew daily from their deployed base at N’Djamena, Chad, also performing reconnaissance and close-air-support (CAS) missions. Six of them are still there.


On that first mission, four Rafales took off from St. Dizier airbase with less than 48 hours notice and destroyed 21 pre-planned rebel targets in the middle of the country. They were each carrying three 2,500-liter fuel tanks, plus either six 500 GBU-12 laser-guided bombs plus a Thales Damocles designator pod, or six Sagem AASM Hammer GPS-guided smart weapons. They landed at N’Djamena after nine hours 45 minutes, having been air-refueled six times.

Subsequent missions also relied heavily on air-to-air refueling, as the aircraft remained on station to support French and Mali ground troops as they advanced into rebel-held territory. “Mali is a large country, with lots of sand and one big river. We were flying 800 miles from N’Djamena just to get there, on day and night roundtrips lasting up to nine hours,” said Lt. Col. Francois Tricot, commanding officer of EC02.030, one of two French Air Force Rafale squadrons that were involved. He paid tribute to the crews of U.S. Air Force KC-135s who supplemented the five French C-135FR tankers that refueled the Rafales: “To rendezvous at 02:00 over a dark continent when you are miles from anywhere, is very reassuring, and proves that our NATO interoperability training works!” Nevertheless, he admitted that there were some unplanned diversions into Niamey, Chad, when aircraft lingered over Mali to provide possible close-air-support, and then no tanker was available.

Reconnaissance missions were somewhat shorter at around five hours 30 minutes. They were flown from 25,000 to30,000 feet using the large Thales Reco NG pod. “Nobody can see or hear us from that altitude,” Lt. Col. Tricot noted. The Reco NG pod contains long-range infrared band 2 and visible spectrum sensors that can image from high altitude, as well as an infrared band 3 sensor that is designed for high-speed, low-altitude missions. To save time interpreting the imagery, some preselected frames were datalinked to a ground station in Niamey as the aircraft flew back to N’Djamena. The Rafales also offered “nontraditional” ISR coverage while equipped for AI or CAS missions. “We could see and report people hiding in trenches, and vehicles under cover, using our night-vision goggles and the cockpit display from the targeting pod,” Tricot explained. Most of the CAS missions were flown at night “because that’s when the ground troops preferred to advance,” he added.

“We provided top cover for the paratroop drop at night when Timbuktu was retaken on 26/27 January, with two aircraft on station at any one time,” Lt. Col. Tricot said. “Everyone was surprised at how quickly we launched that operation, and the subsequent one to retake Gao. It was planned and executed in 48 hours,” he continued.

The GPS-guided version of the AASM proved particularly useful when mission planners called for multiple targets to be hit in quick succession, to preserve surprise. “A Rafale can multi-fire the AASM quickly, and we launched 12 from two aircraft within a minute on one mission. They hit targets dispersed over a wide area–munitions storage areas, training camps, and a headquarters,” said Tricot. On that mission in early February, another two Rafales were standing by armed with GBU-12s, so that if any target was not destroyed, it could be re-attacked using the laser-guided weapon.

The new, laser-guided version of the AASM was not yet available to the Rafale squadrons. Although the IR-guided AASM was available, it was not used over Mali. The Rafale can also now carry the longer-range 500 GBU-22 and larger 2,000 GBU-24 laser-guided bombs, but pilots had not yet been qualified on these weapons when the Mali intervention was launched. The dual-mode (GPS plus laser guidance) 500 GBU-49 is also now available on the Rafale.

Lt. Col. Tricot noted that the availability rate of the Rafales was over 90 percent, despite the tough deployed conditions. Pilots flew every second day. Missions against known targets took about two hours to plan, using the Sagem SLPRM system. “But debriefing could take up to five hours,” he noted. Tricot said that “hot” intelligence from the Rafale missions was sent directly to deployed ground units, as well as to the combined air operations center (CAOC) through normal reporting channels. Having the CAOC co-located at N’Djamena was “a great advantage,” he added.

Summing up, the squadron commander said that the missions over Mali “were nothing new for us–we already performed over Libya and Afghanistan.” But, he noted, the efficiency that comes from having multirole aircraft, crews, and technicians cannot currently be matched by most other warplanes. “I like to see a dirty Rafale–it’s a war machine!” he added.
Dassault Rafale Coped Well With Mali Mission | Aviation International News
 
Aviation Week , June 15:

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Page 50/52, Interview of Laurent Collet-Billon, head of the French procurement agency DGA (excerpt) :

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Jean-Pierre Devaux: "The Rafale will remain the best technological level until 2050"

What are the trends in fighter planes?
The tendency is to maintain an extremely versatile, as is the Rafale, that is able to cope with the full range of situations, in addition to the cruise missiles in the initial phase of commitment and attack helicopters when combat aviation is not available or not suitable. Ultimately, this set will be complemented by drones armed surveillance. Libya and Mali have shown.

And on a technical level?
Combat aircraft will become smarter, and networking will grow. Today, there is the link 16 [NATO standard for the exchange of tactical information, Ed]. Tomorrow, we imagine that the fighter can fire at a target that is not seen, but which is designated by another device on this theater ...

... From a drone?
For example. Through networking, the pilot will have access to more information, whereas today they are mainly processed at the plane. The sensors, one can imagine a more flexible use of active radar antenna allocate the power to the target. The computer allows. But it is more medium to long term.

How will evolve the Rafale?
The evolution through the standard says "F3-R" which provides for the integration of Meteor air-to-air missile, the development of electronic warfare equipment, the laser designation pod next generation, or the introduction of capacity GPS when the signal is scrambled. All this brings us to 2019 or beyond 2020.Au the "F4" standard would provide an additional increment: integration of missile Scalp renovated, new weapons like a missile 2ASM of 125 kg or less, SDR ... All this to 2025.

When will the renovation mid-life?
From 2030, the Rafale will have to acquire new skills to meet the challenges of the future. As for the Mirage 2000, it will raise the question of adding new features, faster and at lower cost. The decision must be made between 2020 and 2025. Our goal is to maintain the highest level the Rafale for at least 25 more years.

And Post-Rafale and Eurofighter?
The renovation of a mid-life fighter maintains only part of the engineering skills of a manufacturer. If Europe wants a fighter of new generation then it must be able to run a program from 2025. What we imagine with the British, is to have beyond 2030 a UCAV that would complement a fighter renovated. The coupling ensures all missions, from high to low intensity. Except that this drone would be limited to ground attack missions and reconnaissance.

The pilot is not still unemployed?
A fighter unmanned versatile, actually, it's not for now. Especially if it is necessary to ensure deterrence function. One can imagine that conducts drone air-to-air missions, but the complexity is such that it is not in 2030. But keep all channels open. We will also see how changing the public debate on strikes from drones.

What intelligence drones and combat can they join?
Stealth. A drone intelligence is fine without threat in the sky because it was not designed to protect. It can therefore take advantage of solutions developed for a UCAV for stealth. Americans follow this track.

The Treaty of Lancaster House is it open to other countries?
Yes BAE Systems and Dassault must first build a strong control work that may entrust parts of the future UCAV demonstrator to partners. We want to replay neuron which all partner countries tell us "Do not forget us."

And Germany?
She did not request at this stage.
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Bourget 2013: new developments Rafale on show

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Model of active decoy LEA developed by MBDA to equip the Rafale.

The need for export support overcomes the cult of confidentiality that usually surrounds the developments planned for the Rafale. At the Paris Air Show, the Directorate General of Armaments and presented on the stand two preliminary studies programs (EAP) currently funded to improve the performance of the French fighter aircraft in the detection and electronic warfare.
Unreported, LEA (active electromagnetic decoy) project was well presented for the first time at Le Bourget. This involves the development of a releasable active decoy, which would confuse the seeker of some air-to-air missiles in their terminal phase guidance. At least four lures and could be carried by a burst in the same location as the current chaff at the rear of the fuselage. Contrary to that team such as Eurofighter, this lure would be towed by the aircraft, but dropped and he would not have either of propellant.

"Such a system would effectively complement the already built into the plane to thwart some very specific threats, such as homing air-to-air missiles operating in Ka-band Spectra system," said an engineer exhibiting at arms. The "vehicle" for basic LEA is being studied at MBDA, and testing tunnel shooting took place a month ago to check the separation system. Wind tunnel testing of the lure releasable should take place at the end of the year. This program is conducted under the PEA Incas (Integrating New Capabilities Spectra), which we have already spoken several times in our columns.

DGA also presented for the first time called PEA Tragedac. Notified in 2010, it aims to equip the Rafale with a capacity of passive target localization through networking devices from a patrol. Specifically, two Rafale detecting a target with their frontal sector optronics (OSF) or Spectra could improve the accuracy of location of their objective by exchanging data via link 16. A purely software modification but, according to DGA would especially complex to implement the point of view of data synchronization between devices. First test flights are expected to begin by year-end to collect data.

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Air&Cosmos 2364

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there are other studies in progress:
-CARAA (Additional capabilities for active antenna) is a software upgrade to improve performance against low speed and low altitude threats and to detect ground targets. Tests planned for 2014/2015.
-DEDIRA (stealth Rafale demonstrator) aims to improve stealth. Significant funding for several years. First modifications will be tested real size soon. Content still classified.
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Current rafale development programs known :

TREGEDAC : passive detection improvement via aircraft networking and traingulation
INCAS : Spectra improvement including GaN + active decoy against Ka band missiles
CARAA : improved RBE2 AESA with new modes and better performance
DEDIRA : stealth increase
GANIMEDE : GaN modules industrialization
THEO : Engine upgrade
DARTAGNAN : Engine upgrade
 

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