The Rafale «SQUALL»
is a French twin-engine,canard delta wing,multirole fighter aircraft designed and
built by Dassault Aviation. Equipped with a wide range of weapons, the Rafale is
intended to perform air supremacy,interdiction, aerial reconnaissance,
and nuclear strike missions.
In the late 1970s, the French Air Force and Navy were seeking to replace and
consolidate their current fleets of aircraft. In order to reduce development costs
and boost prospective sales, France entered into an arrangement with four other
European nations to produce an agile multi-purpose fighter. Subsequent
disagreements over workshare and differing requirements led to France's pursuit
of its own development program. Dassault built atechnology demonstrator which
first flew in July 1986 as part of an eight-year flight-test programme, paving the
way for the go-ahead of the project. The Rafale is distinct from other European
fighters of its era in that it is almost entirely built by one country, involving most of
France's major defence contractors, such as Dassault,Thales and Safran.
Many of the aircraft's avionics and features, such as direct voice input, the RBE2
AA active electronically scanned array radar and the Optronique secteur
frontal infra-red search and track sensor, were domestically developed and
produced for the Rafale programme. Originally scheduled to enter service in
1996, the Rafale suffered significant delays due to post-Cold War budget cuts
and changes in priorities. The aircraft is available in three variants: Rafale C
single-seat land-based version, Rafale B twin-seat land-based version, and
Rafale M single-seat carrier-based version.
Introduced in 2001, the Rafale is being produced for both the French Air Force
and for carrier-based operations in the French Navy. The Rafale has been
marketed for export to several countries, and it has been selected for purchase
by the Indian Air Force, the Egyptian Air Force, and the Qatar Air Force. The
Rafale has been used in combat over Afghanistan, Libya, Mali and Iraq. Several
upgrades to the weapons and avionics of the Rafale are planned to be
introduced by 2018.
General characteristics
Crew: 1–2
Length: 15.27 m (50.1 ft)
Wingspan: 10.80 m (35.4 ft)
Height: 5.34 m (17.5 ft)
Wing area: 45.7 m² (492 ft²)
Empty weight:
10,300 kilograms (22,700 lb) (B)
9,850 kilograms (21,720 lb) (C) ()
Loaded weight: 15,000 kilograms (33,000 lb) ()
Max. takeoff weight: 24,500 kilograms (54,000 lb) (B/C/D) ()
Powerplant: 2 × Snecma M88-2 turbofans
Dry thrust: 50.04 kN (11,250 lbf) each
Thrust with afterburner: 75.62 kN (17,000 lbf) each
Fuel capacity: 4,700 kg (10,360 lb) internal
Performance
Maximum speed:
High altitude: Mach 1.8 (1,912 km/h, 1,032 knots)
Low altitude: Mach 1.1 (1,390 km/h, 750 knots)
Range: 3,700+ km (2,000+ nmi) with 3 drop tanks
Combat radius: 1,852+ km (1,000+ nmi) on penetration mission
Service ceiling: 15,235 m (50,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 304.8+ m/s (60,000+ ft/min)
Wing loading: 328 kg/m² (67.1 lb/ft²)
Thrust/weight: 0.988 (100% fuel, 2 EM A2A missile, 2 IR A2A missile)
version B
Maximum g-load: +9/–3.6 g
Armament
Guns: 1× 30 mm (1.18 in) GIAT 30/M791 auto cannon with 125 rounds
Hardpoints: 14 for Air Force versions (Rafale B/C), 13 for Navy version
(Rafale M) with a capacity of 9,500 kg (20,900 lb) external fuel and
ordnance and provisions to carry combinations of:
Missiles:
Air-to-air:
MBDA MICA IR or EM or Magic II and
MBDA Meteor in the future
Air-to-ground:
MBDA Apache or
MBDA Storm Shadow-SCALP EG or
AASM-Hammer or
GBU-12 Paveway II, GBU-22 Paveway III or GBU-49
Enhanced Paveway II
GBU-24 Paveway III
AS-30L
Air-to-surface:
MBDA AM 39-Exocet anti-ship missile
MBDA CVS401-Perseus in the future
Deterrence:
ASMP-A nuclear missile
Other:
Thales Damocles targeting pod
Thales AREOS (Airborne Recce Observation System)
reconnaissance pod
Thales TALIOS multi-function targeting pod in the future (F3R
Standard)
Up to 5 drop tanks
Buddy-buddy refuelling pod
Avionics Thales RBE2-AA AESA radarThales SPECTRA Electronic Warfare
[Link]/SAGEM-OSF Optronique Secteur Frontal infra-red search and
track (IRST) system.
+REE\IURP5XVVLDZLWK/RYH
MINI DEPRON JET Designed by: Prop-er
[Link]
RAFALE Revision 1
Oct 4th 2008
WINGSPAN: 500mm (~20")
MATERIAL: Depron 3mm
WEIGHT: 175 gr AUW
Free plan for personal,
non-commercial use only!
rop-er
Revised part
Oct 4th 2008