The aircraft were developed for the French Air Force and Navy. 1
Rafale entered service with French Navy in 2004 & French Air Force in 2006. 10 aircraft are operational on the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier. 2
Rafale B and C entered service with the French Air Force in June 2006, when the first squadron was established. The second air force squadron was set up in 2008... Cont 👇
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The cockpit has hands-on throttle and stick control (HOTAS). The cockpit is equipped with a heads-up, wide-angle holographic display from Thales Avionique, which provides aircraft control data, mission data and firing cues. 9/n
Rafale fighter weapons
Rafale can carry payloads of more than 9 Tn on 14 hardpoints for air force version, with 13 for the naval version...👇
In April 2007, the Rafale carried out the first firing of the Sagem AASM precision-guided bomb, which has both GPS / inertial guidance and, optionally, imaging infrared terminal guidance. 13/n
Rafale has a twin gun pod and a Nexter (formerly Giat) 30mm DEFA 791B cannon, which can fire 2,500 rounds a minute. 14/n
Countermeasure and sensor technology on the twin-jet combat aircraft
Rafale’s electronic warfare system is the Spectra from Thales... Cont 👇
Rafale is equipped with an RBE2 passive electronically scanned radar developed by Thales, which has look-down and shoot-down capabilities. 15/n
Thales developed an active electronically scanned version of the RBE2, which equipped Rafale in February 2011. Flight tests of radar onboard Rafale took place in 2008. 16/n
Optronic systems include the Thales / SAGEM OSF infrared search and track system, installed in the nose of the aircraft. 17/n
In January 2012, the French Ministry of Defence awarded a ten-year contract to Thales to maintain the electronic systems and warfare of the aircraft. 18/n
The aircraft is also equipped with fixed-frequency VHF / UHF radio for communications with civil air traffic control. 20/n
The Rafale is powered by two M88-2 engines, each providing a thrust of 75kN. 22/n
Rafale has an SB25A combined interrogator-transponder developed by Thales.Cont 👇
Rafale engines
The Rafale is powered by two M88-2 engines from SNECMA, each providing a thrust of 75kN. The aircraft is equipped for buddy-buddy refuelling with a flight refuelling hose reel and drogue pack. 25/n
The M88 incorporates the latest technologies such as single-piece bladed compressor disks (blisks), 👇
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