Forum: Modern Military Aircraft

Reliable sources from India confirms the decision..
The Rafale got its first export order..Congrats..

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Shocking development. I thought they'd go EF for the anti ISR mission. Any speculation that they chose Rafale so that it can carry one munition of a certain type at low level discretely? I'll be looking out for news stories about Dassault integrating "indigenously developed munitions."

I'm glad to see Dassault finally bag their first export sale for the Rafale. While I'm sure the Eurofighter crowd will jump in to disagree, I definitely think the Rafale gave a better showing of multi-role (or Omni-role as Dassault calls it) in Libya. The truth of the matter is the RAF barely had enough qualified aircrew for mult-irole operations, while the Rafale has operated over Afghanistan on several occasions. That, combined with the oft-downplayed commonality with the Mirage 2000 and, frankly, the lack of political commitment to Tranche 3 from the Euro-Partner nations made the Rafale a more appetizing selection. And if it so happens that they really did win on price too, even better for them.

Congrats to the IAF, and I hope to see these Rafales at a Red Flag some day soon.

HV

I like the EF, but it's about time Dassault actually won an export order for their new fighter this time. I'm hoping to see how India fares with them on their side!

shingen wrote:

Shocking development. I thought they'd go EF for the anti ISR mission. Any speculation that they chose Rafale so that it can carry one munition of a certain type at low level discretely? I'll be looking out for news stories about Dassault integrating "indigenously developed munitions."

Are we both thinking ASMP clones?? Wink

Good work to Dassault, I suspected they'd get this one. And ditto to HaveVoid, those should be fun for the Eagles, Vipers and Zippos to tangle with.

Zippos?

tacf-x wrote:

Zippos?

F-35s. It's a roughly F-16-size aircraft with large amounts of internal fuel and no onboard fire suppression systems. When you put two and two together, you get a Zippo-like fireball and an ACES V worshiper.

Are these the so called Super Rafale's with the upgraded engines and AESA? I hear they've been testing one but I'm not sure.

Su-30MKI + Rafale + RED FLAG = F-35 bait! Can't wait to see it!

So, why did they make this decision?

Cheaper?
Better A2G?
Better tech transfer?
Similarity to M2000?
Carrier capability?

I really think capability wise they should have taken EF for A2A, SH for A2G or waited for F-35 to do it all.

SH was ruled out due to poor A2A performance due to all of the bells and whistles added onto and into the airframe.

They have the SU-30MKI for A2A, and the soon to be upgraded SEPECAT Jaguars for A2G. What they wanted was a best of both worlds, middle of the road approach. Supposedly the winner was decided by who was the lowest bidder (Dassault obviously) but I think the more robust A2G capabilities that have been demonstrated to date no doubt figured in somewhat.

It's funny, they were saying the Rafale had been ruled out at one point weren't they?

HV

If finalized, my opinion is the Rafale is a good choice for them. It will also give India the option to equip their Navy with the carrier variant if they so choose with little to no delays or risks.

Next time IAF shows up at Red Flag, it will be with eighter upgraded MKI or the new 42 order of Super MKI.
Quite possible with a huge AESA with it, it should be very interesting indeed to see it clash against the chubby F-35. Smile

shingen wrote:

So, why did they make this decision?

Cheaper? YES
Better A2G? YES
Better tech transfer? BETTER AND MUCH SMOOTHER , NO RED TAPE
Similarity to M2000? ABSOLUTELY , SAME SUPPLIERS AND A2A MISSILES
Carrier capability? OH YES, VERY IMPORTANT

I really think capability wise they should have taken EF for A2A, SH for A2G or waited for F-35 to do it all.

And also at least three years ahead in AESA radars and has also nuclear weapons capabilities which might be important for India.
Last but not least,France is fully committed to Rafale and will buy at least 300 fighters which will keep the assembly line open until 2030 and beyond.The Eurofighter partners on the other hand, have reduced their initial commitments considerably and delayed the upgrades.

haavarla wrote:

Next time IAF shows up at Red Flag, it will be with eighter upgraded MKI or the new 42 order of Super MKI.
Quite possible with a huge AESA with it, it should be very interesting indeed to see it clash against the chubby F-35. Smile

And those canards on the MKI will make it's RCS roughly that of a B-52... No problem for the -81. Remember, it's not about detecting the F-35, it's about the ability to detect and target it at a range that exceeds the range at which it will shove a missile down your throat.

Forum: Modern Military Aircraft

Dassault Rafale has won the Indian fighter contest !