Christina Mackenzie / Paris
The French navy's recently delivered Rafale fighters are stationed in the Gulf of Oman for training purposes only - but this could change
The first Dassault Rafales have recently entered French navy service, where the fighter will be the keystone of carrier aviation for the next 25 years. France's single nuclear-powered aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle is in the Gulf of Oman, 80km (50 miles) off the Pakistani coast - a floating base for 18 aircraft taking part in Operation Anaconda against the remaining al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan.
On board are the French navy's recently delivered Rafale fighters. Although not part of Anaconda - Rafale sorties being restricted to training missions as part of a joint air force/navy evaluation of the aircraft - the navy says "the fighters are perfectly operational and if necessary could be used in this mission". The navy's Rafale programme manager, Cdr Bruno Thouvenin, says: "The threat from anti-air systems in Afghanistan is negligible so the Rafale has no role to play there. But as a theatre of operations it is a remarkable training opportunity: we are learning to understand this aircraft and are flying sorties with our US and Italian colleagues."
Until 1995, France had two carriers, Clémenceau and Foch, each with air groups consisting of Breguet Aliz‚s for surveillance, Dassault Super Etendards for ground attack, Etendard IVPs for tactical reconnaissance and Vought F-8 Crusaders for air defence. The Aliz‚s have been replaced by Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeyes, while the Crusaders were withdrawn from service before the Rafale F1 was ready. As a result, in 1999-2001 there was no air defence capability onboard a French carrier. "We are very pleased with this aircraft," Thouvenin says, "because it fills this capability gap".
By 2014, the navy should have all 60 aircraft planned, and these are destined to remain in service until at least 2027, says Dassault. The Charles de Gaulle can embark 32 Rafales: 20 stored in its 4,500m2 (48,400ft2) hangar deck. Rafales not aboard the carrier are based at Landivisiau, 30km from Brest on France's northwest coast.
The Charles de Gaulle set sail on 1 December, with the second and third naval Rafales (M2 and M3) on board. Last month Rafales M4, M5 and M6 joined the ship and on 10 March, Rafales M7 and M8 flew 5,500km non-stop from Istres in southern France to the ship with four in-flight refuellings. Adm Alain Witrand, Dassault naval advisor, says M9 and M10 "remain to be finished and will be delivered this summer". The navy's 12F squadron will then become operational.
The navy has loaned its Rafale M1 to Dassault for development of the F2 version of the aircraft, which will be armed with the MBDAScalp stand-off air-to-ground missile. "The first air force and navy squadrons with the F2 standard will be operational in 2006," Witrand says, adding that the "F3 standard, giving air-to-sea attack, reconnaissance and nuclear deterrence capabilities, will be ready by 2008". The single-seat naval version is designated Rafale M, the twin-seat navy aircraft will be designated N, while the air force single-seater is designated C and the twin-seater B.
The seven aircraft on board the Charles de Gaulle were built to LF1 standard, but are now retrofitted to F1 standard. "It took about a month per aircraft to fit the equipment, giving them full air-to-air capability, each with four MBDA Mica EM radar-guided missiles and two MBDA Magic 2 infrared-guided short-range missiles," Witrand says.
The navy's first 10 Rafales are single-seat, as all 60 were originally planned to be. But, according to the navy, the lessons from Operation Allied Force against Yugoslavia in 1999 revealed that, in some instances such as low-altitude, hostile environments and poor weather, a two-seat version has operational and safety advantages.
Twin-seat studies
The French navy has never had a two-seat fighter, but French defence minister Alain Richard decided late last year to order studies for a twin-seater. "We should get the first one in 2006 and have all 35 by 2008," Thouvenin says.
The challenge for Dassault was to implement the changes as quickly as possible and at the lowest cost. The navy estimates the added expense (including development studies and manufacturing costs) at €274 million ($237 million).
The cockpit and canopy must be enlarged, and equipment placed behind the pilot in the Rafale M has to be moved. The changes cannot replicate those to the air force's Rafale B, as the naval version has a reinforced nose gear to take the stress of catapult launches, during which the aircraft is accelerated to 150kt (278km/h) in 75m (245ft), Witrand says. The main gear is stressed for arrested landings. Naval equipment makes the M around 500-600kg heavier than land-based aircraft.
"To lose weight, the navy, DGA [the French defence procurement agency] and the manufacturer decided to remove the GIAT 30mm (1.2in) cannon," Witrand says. The two-seat Rafale N will be armed only with missiles, "although it will still have an identical weapon system to the Rafale B and C for the air force and the Rafale M apart from just this canon", Thouvenin says.
The two-seat version will also have a smaller fuel tank, cutting range by around 5%, Witrand says. He adds that there are two schools of thought on the role of the second crewman. "Should the person in the back be a pilot or a weapons' systems officer? Technically, the aircraft could handle either as it can be piloted from the front or rear seats."
The contract for the twin-seat version has not been signed, and Dassault is not expecting it to be until the end of this year.
Meanwhile, aboard the Charles de Gaulle, Dassault and Thales, responsible for the Rafale's avionics, have a four-person trouble-shooting team to deal with teething problems.
The most serious so far has been a problem with the mission computer, which manages everything except the engines and the flight instrumentation, but has not met its reliability objective of a failure every million flight hours. When pressed to explain the problem, Thouvenin says: "The computer stops". He says the problems have been identified, and are in the process of being solved. "All of the failures have been analysed but we are seeking zero faults."
No problems
He says that while the prototype computer was problem-free, there have been difficulties with the series production variant. Each Rafale has two mission computers, providing systems redundancy. "Operationally, the Rafale can work with just one computer," he says.
Smaller problems include a 3mm dent inflicted on one of the aircraft while it was parked. "We were able to fix this using our Télémaque system derived from long-distance medical diagnosis," Witrand says. The technicians aboard the ship film images that are beamed directly to the engineers in France, "who can then diagnose the problem and guide and advise those on board while they are repairing it".
Once the Rafale fleet is operational, by the third quarter, the trouble-shooters will go home. Repairs and maintenance will then be handled by a dedicated team set up at SIMMAD, the French defence ministry's aircraft repair management agency just south of Paris. Lt Col Vincent Carr‚, deputy director of the Rafale team at SIMMAD, says: "We are responsible for the initial supply of everything for this aircraft, and we must also have the technical expertise to identify and solve problems once the aircraft is operational because we will be the ones responsible for ordering the aircraft grounded if necessary."
| TABLE: Rafale - the time scale |
| 2003 Development begins of F3 standard |
| 2004 Delivery of first F2 standard Rafale at year-end |
| 2005 Other F2 Rafales delivered (standard multi-role air-to-air and air-to-ground) to both navy and air force 11 F fleet becomes the second fleet equipped with Rafales (F2) Delivery of first series Rafale N to be used for programme development with series production scheduled for 2007 |
| 2006 Delivery of F2 Rafales begins at a rate of six a year until 2012 |
| 2007 11F fleet becomes operational Retrofit of aircraft in 12F fleet Reception of first N Rafales Delivery of first Rafales at F3 standard |
| 2012 Navy should have its 60 Rafales by year-end |
Source: Flight International
