Flagship of the Air Force and naval aviation, the Rafale is featured at the Paris Air Show where it is performing flight demonstrations this week. The French combat aircraft is coming to the show after an exceptional year in 2022, marked by the signing of 92 orders, all for export. A record marked by the entry into force, in 2022, of the contract for 80 Rafales signed by the United Arab Emirates, at the very end of 2021. And the confirmation by Indonesia of the purchase of six Rafales, a first tranche out of 42 combat aircraft ordered as well as a contract signed by Greece for six additional Rafales.
The Rafale’s international career is far from over. Dassault Aviation*, its manufacturer, is awaiting confirmation from Indonesia this year of two additional tranches of 18 Rafales each, and also hopes to sign new contracts with India. Observers believe that the visit of Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister, guest of Emmanuel Macron at the July 14 parade, could provide the framework for an announcement in this direction.
In France, 2023 marks the resumption of deliveries of Rafale (12) after a four-year interruption. And the activation of tranche V of the Rafale, an order for 42 aircraft by the Ministry of the Armed Forces. The objective being to “switch to all Rafale and maintain this exceptional aircraft at the very best world level”, according to the expression of Emmanuel Macron, during his wishes to the armies in 2023.
“Combat proven” for years, the Rafale has distinguished itself since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, as part of the reassurance of the eastern flank of Europe. And it is enriched with a new version. Last March, the program indeed took a new step. The General Directorate of Armaments (DGA) has qualified the new F4 standard of the French combat aircraft. This standard should bring the aircraft into the era of “collaborative combat”.
It was in 2019 that Florence Parly, then Minister of the Armed Forces, signed, for 1.9 billion euros, the development contract for the F4 standard, so that the Rafale made “a real technological, industrial and strategic leap”. With the F4 standard, the aircraft enters “the era of data”, with enhanced connectivity. “The first brick of the F4 standard, the F4.1 standard, includes in particular collaborative air combat capabilities, the integration of AASM 1000 kg armament and a reinforcement of the device against cyber threats”, summarizes the Ministry of Armies.
Already ordered by the United Arab Emirates, the fourth generation Rafale will optimize its effectiveness in networked combat thanks to its new satellite links, its new secure communication server, a new generation software defined radio. This, in order to communicate within a cyber-protected bubble with all actors in theaters of operations, from military satellites to connected vehicles (Griffon and Jaguar armored vehicles in particular) on the ground, via command centers. And this within the framework of Franco-French operations or in coalition with friendly countries.
Many tests of the F4 standard have been carried out by the armies and the DGA over the past two years. At the beginning of March, an operational experiment, in real conditions, was launched with a first boarding on the Charles-de-Gaulle aircraft carrier. Some forty flights have been carried out and have made it possible to assess this new standard under complex conditions of use, by confronting the Rafale with radar or GPS interference. “These complex assessments, in interaction with the operational units, are fully in line with the desire to prepare for high-intensity conflicts and the threats present in contemporary theatres”, underlines the French Navy.
All the Rafales, to the F3R standard, of the Air and Space Force and the French Navy, will be gradually modernized with the F4 standard. It will not be the last since it is planned to develop an F5 standard, with adaptation to new generation missiles, within the framework of the new military programming law 2024-2030.
*The Dassault group owns the Figaro
