Rafale Marine F1

  • 0 Respostas
  • 4112 Visualizações
*

JLRC

  • Investigador
  • *****
  • 2505
  • Recebeu: 1 vez(es)
  • +4/-85
Rafale Marine F1
« em: Julho 10, 2004, 01:48:00 pm »
Thales Welcomes Operational Service Entry of Rafale Marine
 
 
(Source: Thales Group; issued June 25, 2004)
 
 
 NEUILLY-SUR-SEINE, France --- Thales welcomes the entry of the Rafale F1 standard into operational service, announced by the French Navy at the Landivisiau naval airbase on 25 June 2004.  
 
The entry into operational service is a sign of the Rafale’s operational success with the Aéronavale (the French Navy’s air arm) and confirms the program as a key element of France’s defense for the coming decades.  
 
The air defense mission of France’s Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier is conducted using the ten Rafale F1 standard aircraft that make up 12F Squadron. Thales supplies most of the onboard equipment needed to ensure system implementation and mission success, including the RBE2 electronic scanning radar, the Spectra electronic warfare suite (in partnership with MBDA), the IFF identification system and airframe equipment such as the mission and data-storage computer, displays, communication systems, backup instruments and electric power generation systems.  
 
The entry into operational service of the Rafale F1 standard and the success of the Agapanthe 04 mission are the results of major development efforts conducted since the Héraclès campaign, in which Thales played a major role. Initial feedback in 2002, following deployment in critical naval operating conditions, led to a series of modifications to the onboard equipment in order to optimize its implementation and operational deployment. These modifications were made in close collaboration with French Navy’s pilots and technicians. The current success is the result of all the development, production engineering and final adjustment efforts that have gone into the F1 standard.  
 
The entry into operational service is the first vital stage in this long-term program. The subsequent stages are already scheduled. They include the development of the F2 standard, the first multi-role standard that will support additional air-to-surface functions, and the production of forty-eight aircraft. In addition to improvements to the existing equipment, the F2 standard will feature new equipment, including the forward sector optronics system (in partnership with Sagem), the MDPU(1) modular computer and the MIDS(2) tactical datalink. The entry into operational service will commence with an initial testing phase at Mont-de-Marsan military flight test center from September 2004.  
 
The F3 standard, which entered development in early 2004, will give the Rafale complementary operational capabilities, including deployment and fire control of ASMP-A medium-range air-to-ground missiles and AM39 anti-ship missiles, as well as accommodating the RECO NG optronics pod and high-resolution air-to-ground mapping with the RBE2 radar. Finally, Thales is preparing for the future with new developments planned: these include the integration of the Damocles laser designation pod and improvements to the forward sector optronics system, Spectra electronic warfare suite and RBE2 active antenna.  
 
Thales is an international electronics and systems group, serving defense, aerospace, services and security markets. The group employs 62,000 people worldwide and generated revenues of 10.6 billion in 2003.