Dassault Rafale in Indian Air Force

[johny_baba]

A thread to discuss everything about Dassault Rafale in IAF service

 

[Gandaberunda]

Looks like MMRCA is back

 

[Screambowl]

French AF Rafale chasing Ariane 6
source : Michael Sheetz

 

[haldilal]

Ya'll @suyog Nibba with a Frenche Rafale.

 

[Bhartiya Sainik]

Ya'll @suyog Nibba with a Frenche Rafale.

View attachment 9069

If i could touch it then i would take closeup shot of that LWR & engine intake 1st before selfie

 

[haldilal]

If i could touch it then i would take closeup shot of that LWR & engine intake 1st before selfie

Ya'll and why do you think @suyog Nibba didn't done that?.

 

[Bhartiya Sainik]

Ya'll and why do you think @suyog Nibba didn't done that?.

 

[bruno]

I had the opportunity to go on the french naval airbase which host the Rafale M.
Articles will be published in french and English, but I have made a video too. There are comments in English. Let me knows if you like it.


View: https://youtu.be/1lp9jhE4-xY?si=u0p48xhwRyOxKJVY

 

[Clawreed]

View: https://youtu.be/e45UQFBEmR4?si=UavjiiIxGbZ0mxBO

 

[rockdog]

China Zhuhai Airshow, dose it mean China have interface with Rafale for selling missile?

 

[Neil (नील/Нил)]

IAF Dassault Rafale.
Credit: Respective Owners.

 

[Spitfire IX]

If the 3 year push backwards in the TEDBF schedule (as reported in Indian media) this week is true, how is this likely to affect Rafale M negotiations? I see India's position weakened and Dassault's strengthened unless both parties anticipated something like this happening.

 

[Asmodeus]

It seems deliberate to ease the pressure of Indigenization.

View: https://x.com/Indrani1_Roy/status/1863626311929074100

 

[BON PLAN]

Some news about Rafale F5

Dassault chief Trappier outlines roadmap for F5-standard Rafale

Dassault Aviation's planned F5-standard Rafale fighter will have more powerful engines, improved survivability and data links, and will be accompanied by an unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) weighing more than 10t, according to the French airframer's chief executive.

www.flightglobal.com

Dassault Aviation’s planned F5-standard Rafale fighter will have more powerful engines, improved survivability and data links, and will be accompanied by an unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) weighing more than 10t, according to the French airframer’s chief executive.

Significantly, the stealthy UCAV will be more double the size of the Neuron, a previous unmanned demonstrator developed by the company and partners last decade.

Eric Trappier, speaking to FlightGlobal in Paris on 5 March, said he was hopeful of receiving a development contract for the F5 work from the French government in the coming months, building towards service entry in 2030.

Dassault is contemplating a UCAV twice as large as the Neuron technology demonstrator (top)
Driven by the aircraft’s nuclear deterrence mission, the F5 will be designed to carry the new ASN4G munition – a scramjet-powered hypersonic missile being developed by MBDA.

Although the exact requirements for the F5 enhancement will be driven by the French armed forces, Trappier says “connectivity will be important for the nuclear mission”.

Beyond that, other systems will also need to be improved, he says, such as the radar, other sensors and countermeasures suite.

“The first goal of a fighter is to survive so it can fire its weapon,” he says.

Announcing the initial F5 study work last October, French defence minister Sebastien Lecornu said the Rafale would be “supported by a stealth combat drone”.

“We believe the addition of a UCAV with the Rafale could also improve the performance of the mission with both air-to-ground and air-to-air capabilities,” says Trappier.

Dassault in the 2010s developed and flew its Neuron UCAV demonstrator, leading a multinational team on the project.

Trappier says the new UCAV will be considerably larger than the Neuron, which was “a small drone” with a maximum take-off weight of around 5-6t.

“We will go to more than double that in order to carry weapons and get a certain range. It’s going to be a big one.”

He declines to say whether it will be a single- or twin-engined aircraft but says it will have stealth characteristics.

In parallel, Safran Aircraft Engines has embarked on a programme to increase the thrust of the Rafale’s M88 powerplants.

Known as project T-Rex, improvements to the engine’s hot section will allow thrust to be rasied beyond the current 11,240lb (50kN) maximum without increasing the size of the engine.

Trappier will not be drawn on the exact thrust required but says it is “a little bit more than we had in mind before”.

Retaining the same size engine will also mean there is no need to change the basic design of the Rafale.

“It is possible to increase a little bit the size of the Rafale but it is not the way we are looking at [F5] today,” Trappier says.

Meanwhile, Dassault aims to deliver 25 of the multirole fighters this year – a four-unit increase over its 2024 performance – 13 of which will be handed over to the French air force.

Production of major parts for the jet internally and at certain subcontractors is running at what Trappier calls “pace 3” – sufficient to support output of three aircraft per month – but this has yet to feed through to its Merignac final assembly line.

Pace 3 would see 33 of the jets built in a year – the factory closes for the month every August – and a further increase to pace 4 is also contemplated.

Even higher rates could also be achieved if supported by demand, he notes.

Trappier remains confident India will soon contract for 26 carrier-capable Rafale Ms for its navy, with its air force also contemplating a follow-on order to complement the service’s existing 36-strong fleet.

Sizeable commitments from New Delhi are likely to require the localisation of production to conform with its Make in India programme and would see Dassault “open a new assembly line in India so we can absorb the load”, says Trappier.

France is also considering another batch of up to 30 aircraft for delivery in the 2030s.

 

[Azaad]

View: https://twitter.com/Varun55484761/status/1897653587427127715?s=19

 

[Azaad]

View: https://twitter.com/Varun55484761/status/1897653587427127715?s=19

French members on Strat Front are confirming production to be raised to 5 Rafales a month from next year onwards.

If GoI moves their arses fast we can get the production line in India soon as well as get 12 Rafales per annum , hopefully within 2 years of signing the contract .

Please note the standard delivery time is 3 years for first FA to be delivered with the rest delivered @ 1 no FA per month.

For that we need to give Dassault an order of ~ 80 nos Rafales to be mfgd in India & import the Rafale M from France.

The only hitch is the MII is going to cost a bomb . Don't be surprised if you look at a price tag of 250 million USD + per FA , likely close to 300 million USD per FA .

For that's what it'd take to set up a line here , enable local MSMEs to be part of the supply chain , ISE , royalties for ToT in MII etc .

The opposition will be up in arms . Hence the IAF chief constantly reminding us of what's at stake building up public opinion thru MSM so as to prevent the opposition running away with their agenda.

 

[Nutcracker]

French members on Strat Front are confirming production to be raised to 5 Rafales a month from next year onwards.

If GoI moves their arses fast we can get the production line in India soon as well as get 12 Rafales per annum , hopefully within 2 years of signing the contract .

Please note the standard delivery time is 3 years for first FA to be delivered with the rest delivered @ 1 no FA per month.

For that we need to give Dassault an order of ~ 80 nos Rafales to be mfgd in India & import the Rafale M from France.

The only hitch is the MII is going to cost a bomb . Don't be surprised if you look at a price tag of 250 million USD + per FA , likely close to 300 million USD per FA .

For that's what it'd take to set up a line here , enable local MSMEs to be part of the supply chain , ISE , royalties for ToT in MII etc .

The opposition will be up in arms . Hence the IAF chief constantly reminding us of what's at stake building up public opinion thru MSM so as to prevent the opposition running away with their agenda.

I literally don't see sense in Rafale at this price point anymore. It's normal fly away price might be around 130M, and MII way would cost us 170M or more. We literally lack force multipliers in dozens of numbers. I don't think IAF has CAPEX for such shopping in next 10 years.

 

[Azaad]

I literally don't see sense in Rafale at this price point anymore. It's normal fly away price might be around 130M, and MII way would cost us 170M or more. We literally lack force multipliers in dozens of numbers. I don't think IAF has CAPEX for such shopping in next 10 years.

I was talking about the whole package including weapons , LCC , etc . What was the total cost of the 36 nos Rafales we got ? I think it worked out to ~ 225 million USD all inclusive per FA.

As far as the CAPEX for IAF goes Leaderji should get his priorities right . If he values infrastructure & social spending apart from welfarism over security then that's what he's doing.

Tomorrow when we go up against the Chinese & we end up like we did in 1962 only to be told if only we had the Rafale or any other such other gems hope he doesn't mind being criticized bitterly like chacha is in some quarters (not among the vast majority as he got a stroke & the narrative changed from his gross incompetence to the Chinese betrayed him ) not that he'd have a choice in the matter.

 

[Nutcracker]

I was talking about the whole package including weapons , LCC , etc . What was the total cost of the 36 nos Rafales we got ? I think it worked out to ~ 225 million USD all inclusive per FA.

As far as the CAPEX for IAF goes Leaderji should get his priorities right . If he values infrastructure & social spending apart from welfarism over security then that's what he's doing.

Tomorrow when we go up against the Chinese & we end up like we did in 1962 only to be told if only we had the Rafale or any other such other gems hope he doesn't mind being criticized bitterly like chacha is in some quarters (not among the vast majority as he got a stroke & the narrative changed from his gross incompetence to the Chinese betrayed him ) not that he'd have a choice in the matter.

If we are buying enough to demand an assembly line, I can bet Babus aint gonna let them extort for weapon package. No Indian weapons integration/Mission computer/SW access will be a deal killer.

 

[Azaad]

If we are buying enough to demand an assembly line, I can bet Babus aint gonna let them extort for weapon package. No Indian weapons integration/Mission computer/SW access will be a deal killer.

No time to bargain or we'd be dragging this for more than a few years which sort of defeats the very purpose of this exercise which is to boost squadron strength of the IAF quickly , set up an alternative production agency & give IAF a cutting edge state of the art system to take on PLAAF.

Btw - the initial batch of 36 nos Rafales didn't have an Indian MC too which is the reason we paid more than a billion USD for ISE.