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July 2011 www.avionicstoday.com Equipment for Police Helicopters Certifyin g Aircraft for ADS-B Product Focus: Data Acquisition RAFALE IN COMBAT

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Page 1: Avionics - Rafale in Combat 2011 07

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July 2011

www.avionicstoday.com

Equipment forPolice Helicopters

Certifying Aircraftfor ADS-B

Product Focus:Data Acquisition

RAFALE

IN COMBAT

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20  Avionics Magazine July 2011 www.avionicstoday.com

military 

 The French fighter jet, equipped with imaging processing, munition

and targeting pods, demonstrates its power in missions over Libya

By Jean-Michel Guhl

Only a few European manu-facturers produce and devel-op high-tech fighter aircraft.The Eurofighter and theRafale are the final con-

tenders selected by the Indian air forcein the 125+ aircraft purchase program to

replace that service’s old MiG-21 fleet.Both companies are gloating about theirrespective fighter’s warfighting qualitieswhile both aircraft demonstrate excellentcombat readiness over the Libyan theatre.

If the nearly decade long anti-Talibanair operations in Afghanistan have keptdeployed French air force Mirages,Rafales and Super-Etendards busy ona drop off mode, everything changedin early 2011 when the French Rafalessuccesfully carried out a series of preci-sion attacks on Colonel Gaddafi’s forcesin Libya. The Armée de l’Air’s Rafalesconducted, as early as March 19, 6- to

7-hour, pre-strike reconnaissance mis-

sions along the Libyan coastline fromtheir home base in Metropolitan France,assisted by Mirage F1CRs used to collectspecific photographic target confirma-tions. Then a night later, Mirage 2000Dfighter-bombers and Rafales struck tar-gets deep inside Libya, assisted by UnitedStates and the United Kingdom.

With the delivery of the 100th Rafalescheduled for this summer, Dassault Avia-tion will reach a landmark in the aircraft’sproduction order, which so far stands at190 for the French air force (71 Rafale Csand 79 Rafale Bs) and navy (40 RafaleMs). Production of the Rafale for theFrench forces is secured until 2019 andis expected to last until 2025. Its lifespanhas been set at 50 years, and current planby the French Ministry of Defense is toequip the navy with 58 Rafale Ms and airforce with 228 Rafale B/Cs. By the end of this decade, the Rafale will replace all of the fighter types in service in France (lest

a few remaining hundred Mirage 2000D

fighter-bombers and Mirage 2000-5Finterceptors), and all military aircraftproduction in France is now geared to theRafale and its systems.

The Rafale has been produced in threestandards: the F1 for the French navyfrom mid-2004 — 10 aircraft plus 3 forthe French air force now retrofitted to

F3 standard — also called Tranche 1; F2for the French air force and navy frommid-2006 — 48 aircraft since retrofittedto F3 standard — also called Tranche 2;and F3 for the French air force and navysince mid-2008 — 59 aircraft still in theprocess of delivery — also called Tranche3; with 60 more to be delivered underTranche 4 (described as F3+) with seriesproduction Thales RBE2/AA active elec-tronically scanned array (AESA) radar.

This summer, the French navy willmuster two “flottilles” of Rafales (12Fand 11F) operating from the aircraft car-rier Charles-de-Gaulle; and the Air Force

a total of four squadrons — EC 1/7, EC

Rafale in

 C

French Air Force Dassault Rafales,pictured at the Solenzara air baseflightline in Corsica, are armed andready to depart for Libyan airspace.

 All carry a pair of 580-gallon droptanks for their 6- to 7-hour sorties.

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www.avionicstoday.com July 2011 Avionics Magazine 21

1/91 and ETR 2/92 at Saint Dizier airbase in France, and EC 3/30 at Al Dhafraair base in the UAE. ECE 5/330 at Mont-de-Marsan is a further test squadron usedfor the permanent evaluation and updat-ing of the Rafale’s systems and weapons.In 2012, a fifth Rafale squadron will becommissioned at Mont-de-Marsan, EC2/30. Current plans call for the air force tofly three flottilles of Rafale Ms after 2015and air force some 10 squadrons by 2020.

This year, 94 aircraft will be retrofit-

ted to the F3 standard. Next standard of Rafale, now in early production, will becalled F3+ (or F3-04T) and will includethe Thales RBE2/AA AESA radar, a360° threat detector (MBDA’s missileapproach warning system) and a frontalsector optics set (Sagem’s FSO-IT), alldesigned to improve data fusion and situ-ational awareness.

“Our aim is to keep the Rafale attop level of performance and interoper-ability. As it is set today, the aircraft’sarchitecture and platform show that theRafale will not need any further hardwarechanges before its mid-life update which

should take place around 2025. Howevera detailled roadmap for the aircraft stillhas to be built,” said IGA Stéphane Reb,the Rafale program manager at the Direc-tion Générale de l’Armement (DGA),the French Procurement Agency. Fur-ther equipments are being developed toincrease the Rafale’s lethality.

Topics under scrutiny include the inte-gration of the MBDA Meteor supersonicBVR air-to-air missile in 2018 and thelaser-guided version of the Sagem Arme-ment Air-Sol Modulaire (AASM), plusthe development of low collateral dam-age kinetic bombs; the development byThales of a more powerful laser designa-

tion pod; and the adoption of additionalmodes for the Thales RBE2/AA AESAradar, tactical data link 16 upgrades andelectronic warfare suite improvements onthe Spectra system.

 Advanced SystemsThe 2011 air war operations over Libyahave brought the focus on some of theRafale’s equipment, notably the Thales

Areos advanced digital reconnaisancepod (known as Reco-NG in France); theThales Damocles laser designation pod;and the Sagem AASM 250-kg INS-guid-ed rocket bomb.Thales Areos: “See, Decide, Act” is just the basic operational process thatarmed forces need to control during waroperations, just as in Libya, where therisk of civilian collateral damage is pres-ent. A timely day/night image intelligence(IMINT) is required to feed correct infor-

mation into the observe, orient, decideand act (OODA) decision cycle, and itneeds a full IMINT system rather than apuzzle of isolated equipment specified onstand alone performance criteria.

The Thales Reco-NG (or Areos forexport, Airborne REconnaissance Obser-vation System) is a 2,000-pound digitalrecce pod designed to be adaptable toany modern tactical fighter. According toThales, it meets the full spectrum of oper-ational requirements in a broad range of scenarios and weather conditions becauseit integrates digital technology, both inthe sensor/detector solutions and the real

time/non-real time transmission capabil-ity. It is also interoperable with otherallied nations using STANAG 7023 and4545 for imagery, and STANAG 7085 fortactical datas.

Operational on the Rafale since lastDecember, and after a long debuggingtrial period, the French recce nacellenow used over the Libyan theatre boastssophisticated operational automaticimagery collection modes. It is particu-larly suited to single-seat aircraft, a factwhich was validated when the system wasfirst deployed over Afghanistan by theFrench navy last December.

Reco-NG/Areos serial production

was launched by the French Ministryof Defense in 2005 — for both the airforce and navy — in order to replace thededicated Mirage F1CRs of the Frenchair force and the Super-Étendards of theFrench navy.

To date 10 pods have been delivered byThales to the French amed forces. A totalof 20 pods are on order to equip the airforce (12) and the navy (8) with delivery

ombatto be completed by the end of next year.Two were ordered by DGA in 2009, six in2010, six in 2011, and six will be orderednext year. According to DGA, Areos

provides day identification capabilitiesthat are two-and-a-half times better thanthose of the Mirage F1CR’s Presto “wet-film” system and 8 times better than thoseof the legacy SDS250 photo pod of theSuper-Étendard. Some 20 French pilotshave been qualified on the Reco-NG sys-tem so far.

Reco-NG/Areos has been designedto cope with the most stringent require-ments by coalition and NATO forcestoday, from low level, high speed tomedium and high level/long “stand off”imagery collection in a single pod.

Among its key features are digital ele-

ments which increase day/night IMINTcollection capabilities at long stand-off and short ranges; shorten the intelligencecycle and the operational tempo fromhours to a few minutes with a very accu-rate target location capability; increaseintelligence timeliness in the theater;increase flexibility in the operational useof IMINT collection systems to adapt tochanges in weather conditions or tacticalthreats changes during the mission; andensure operational/technical interopera-bility through technical standards agreedwithin the international community.

The Reco-NG/Areos pod performanc-es are based on two day/night sensors.

One sensor for short, medium and longcollection ranges (Dual Band Sensor DB-STARS, band 2) is integrated in the frontsection and one sensor for low level/highspeed imagery (Infra Red Line Scannerband 3) is integrated in the rear section.

The DB-STARS collects imagery onlarge areas with the wide field-of-viewsensors, day and night, and can alsoacquire very high resolution imagery with

The long focal lens of the Areos (Reco-NG) digital reconnaissance pod providesseveral gigabytes of high-definition imag-esthat can be transmitted during flight.

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22  Avionics Magazine July 2011 www.avionicstoday.com

the narrow fields of view. It includes avideo mode to “turn around” selectedtargets and improve their 3-D renditionon screen.

The images processing tools on boardthe Reco-NG nacelle include a user inter-face that is optimized for a single-seatplatform, the pilot receiving proof of thepictures snapped by the aircraft directlyin his cockpit head-down display. Using aspecific encrypted radio data link capac-ity, information can then be selected,

transmitted and exploited in real time.

Finally the IRLS is used to collect in thesame time high resolution imagery onthose selected locations mainly based onthe detection of activity or environmentaspects in the infrared spectrum.

The present Reco-NG/Areos datalink architecture has been designed to

offer a real-time and non-real-time imagetransmission capability at Line of Sightranges with a 360° coverage, thanks tothe two antennas on the pod extremeties.The specific hybrid duplex architectureintegrates two datalinks, one for the linkquality management, one for the imagerydownlinking.

For the post-mission phase, theFrench armed forces use SAIM-NG/MINDS, a Multisensor MultispectralImage Exploitation System, which isthe main tool for the French intelligenceofficer. Designated SAIM-NG, MobileMultisensor Image Exploitation Ground

System “Nouvelle Génération,” it usesnear real-time acquisition units, verylarge data base management, data pro-cessing, including fusion and decisionaiding tools, and communication net-works. The SAIM/SAIM-NG system isoperational in the French air force, navyand army. Initially defined for the specificuse of manned reconnaissance sensors,SAIM is now more and more used for theexploitation of UAV and battle field MTIand SAR surveillance systems. Thales Damocles: Delivered just intime for the air operations in Libya,the Damocles targeting pod, designed

by Thales, is an updated variant of the

Damocles nacelle used on the Mirage2000-9, the Super-Étendard Modernisé,the Sukhoi 30MKM, the Tornado IDSand the Mirage F1M. It is a multi-func-tion, 525-pound targeting pod compatiblewith existing and future weapons systems.It is comparable to the Lockheed Martin

Sniper AN/AAQ-33 or the NorthropGrumman Litening AN/AAQ-28(V).Equipped with an eye-safe laser range-finder, it is fully operational in all weatherconditions, on all sorts of theatres andbenefits from a modular design for futureupgrade, according to Thales. If the first10 nacelles were purchased in 2010 undera “crash program,” some 20 more are onorder to equip the Armée de l’Air and theAéronavale’s Rafales.

Main feature of the Damocles is anadvanced STANAG 3733-compatibletechnology nacelle featuring a staringarray detector in the spectral band 3 to 5

μm, robust tracking systems, image pro-cessing and 3-D location and laser spotdetection. Its powerful laser and high res-olution imagery provide the Rafale witha long stand-off range and fair tacticalground/air defence system survivability.

Its main functions are for air-to-ground strike and reconnaissance, butit can also be used for air-to-air opticalsurveillance and day/night visual air-borne target identification. Damocles iscompatible with laser guided weapons,INS/GPS guided missiles and imagery-guided weapons and allows attacks inautonomous or cooperative mode, using

an integrated laser spot tracker. Its high

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The Thales Damocles targeting pod,pictured here installed under the star-board air intake of a Rafale, providesa long stand-off range and fair tacticalground/air defence system survivability.

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www.avionicstoday.com July 2011 Avionics Magazine 23

 ADVERTISINGSALES REPS Tish Drake

 Publisher/East Coast Sales

T: 800-325-0156

E-mail:

 [email protected]

Susan Joyce

West Coast/ International Sales Manager 

T: 480-607-5040

Cell: 303-641-5505

E-mail:

[email protected]

laser energy and high resolutionlaser imagery provides long secu-rity range and high level of surv-ability. It can be used for battledamage assessment at long rangeand includes target recognitioncapability, 3-D localisation and

integrated navigation FLIR.Thirty Rafale F3s have

been retroftted with the ThalesNextW@ve TRA 6034 VHF/UHF secure radios. The SDR-architected radio covers 30 to600 MHz for full joint/combinedoperations. It supports voice, data(EPM 250 kbits/s) and imagery.These radios are used in conjuc-tion with the L3 Rover video sys-tem required by CAS operationsin Afghanistan. Compatible withcurrent NATO and national standards,the radio is claimed to meet the dual

challenges of enhanced interoperabilityacross the VHF/UHF spectrum and thenew requirements of Network CentricWarfare. Sagem AASM: In the face of wretchedLibyan Air Force aerial operations,most of the aircraft destroyed by Frenchmilitary aircraft so far have been pinnedon the ground with bombs, specifically

the AASM, a stand-off precision guidedmunition (PGM) system using both GPS

and inertial guidance. Developers saidit fills the capability gap between laser-guided bombs — with limited range andrequiring continuous laser illuminationtowards the target — and more expensivecruise missiles that provide longer range.

A new French smart weapon usedfor the very first time in Afghanistan in2007, the AASM is also designated Smart

Bomb Unit SBU-38 Hammerby NATO.

“For us, the SBU-38 Ham-mer is primarily an exceptionalall-weather precision guidedmunition. Secondly, it is afantastic tool to strike several

targets in a single pass,” saida French commandant com-manding the third “escadrille”(Br 66) of the Saint-Dizier-based EC 1/91 “Gascogne.”

“The major advantage wenow have with this French-designed PGM is that it isboth a powered and a manœu-vrable bomb. We can launchit in a clearly stand-off modeand completely off-boresight.On top of that, we can attack

static targets with extreme final precision,thanks to the precise coordinates of their

last position we now get on our ATO(air-task order) or in-flight through Link16 via the pre-strike recce information weobtain from our Rafale colleagues thatuse the Reco-NG pod. This in pure tradi-tional sensor-to-shooter mode, under dayor night conditions. And this representsreally a big advantage when we need tostrike time sensitive ground targets.”

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The Sagem AASM, shownhere during an April launch testof the laser-guided variant,is the third version of thebaseline SBU-38 AASM.