This weeks Jet is a favorite of mine.
The Dassault Rafale (French pronunciation: [ʁafal], squall)[2] is a French twin-engined delta-wing agile multi-role 4.5th-generation jet fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Introduced in 2000, the Rafale is being produced both for land-based use with the French Air Force and for carrier-based operations with the French Navy. It has also been marketed for export to several countries but has not yet received orders.
In the mid-1970s, both the French Air Force (Armée de l'Air) and Navy (Aéronavale) had requirements (the Navy's being rather more pressing) to find a new generation of fighters (principally to replace Air Force SEPECAT Jaguars and Navy F-8 Crusaders), and their requirements were similar enough to be merged into one project.[3] In 1983, France awarded Dassault a contract for two Avion de Combat eXpérimental (ACX) demonstrators. European nations, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom agreed to jointly develop a new fighter in the early 1980s. Disagreement over the fighter's size and project leadership led France and the other nations to split in 1985.[4][5] France developed the smaller Rafale, while the other nations developed what would later be named the Euro fighter typhoon.
The Rafale A technology demonstrator was rolled out in late 1985 and made its maiden flight on 4 July 1986. The SNECMA M88 engine was being developed and was not considered sufficiently mature for the initial trials programme, so the demonstrator flew with General Electric F404-GE-400 afterburning turbofans as used on the F/A-18 Hornet.[2] Production orders were placed in 1988.
Further testing continued, including carrier touch-and-go landings and test-flying early M88 engines, before the Rafale A was retired in 1994. Though the Rafale A and British Aerospace EAP were broadly comparable, when the first Eurofighter made its maiden flight in March 1994, pre-series Rafales had been flight-testing for three years, including carrier trials; Rafale C01, Rafale M01, and Rafale B01 first flew in May 1991, December 1991, and April 1993 respectively.
Three versions of Rafale were in the initial production order:
* Rafale C (Chasseur) Single-seat fighter for the AdA (Armée de l'Air, French Air Force)
* Rafale B (Biplace) Two-seat fighter for the AdA
* Rafale M (Marine) Single-seat carrier fighter for the Aéronavale
The prototype Rafale C flew in 1991, the first of two Rafale M prototypes flew later that year. The prototype Rafale B flew in early 1993, and the second Rafale M prototype flew later that year.[8] Catapult trials were initially carried out between 13 July and 23 August 1992 at NAS Lakehurst in New Jersey, USA and NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, USA, as France had no land-based catapult test facility. The aircraft then undertook trials aboard the carrier FS Foch.
A French Navy Rafale M performing a touch and go on the deck of the carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74).
Initially, the Rafale B was to be just a trainer, but Gulf War and Kosovo experience showed that a second crew member is invaluable on strike and reconnaissance missions, and therefore more Rafale Bs were ordered, replacing some Rafale Cs. 60% of the aircraft will be two seaters.[9] The navy investigated a naval version of the two-seat version. No production aircraft or prototypes were built.
Political and economic uncertainty meant that it was not until 1999 that a production Rafale M flew.[9]
The French forces were expected to order 294 Rafales: 234 for the Air Force and 60 for the Navy.[8] To date, 120 Rafales have been officially ordered.[10] These are being delivered in three separate batches, the most recent being the December 2004 order for 59 Rafales.[11]
The marine version has priority since the aircraft it is replacing are much older F-8E(FN) Crusader fighters.[12] Service deliveries began in 2001 and the type "entered service" on 4 December 2000, though the first squadron, Flotille 12, did not actually reform until 18 May 2001. The unit embarked on the Charles de Gaulle in 2002, becoming fully operational on 25 June 2004, following an extended operational evaluation that included flying limited escort and tanker missions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom over Afghanistan.
The Armee de l'Air received its first three Rafale Bs (to F2 standards) in late December 2004. They went to the Centre d'Expériences Aériennes Militaires (CEAM) at Mont-de-Marsan for operational evaluation and associated pilot conversion training
