Three orders and commitments (Egypt, India, Qatar) for export in two months. 84 orders in total, against zero there twelve weeks. The commercial launch of the Rafale Export, now with almost a third of orders outside France, is impressive. If the diplomatic context, with the weakening of the US in the Gulf and the Arab world, played as well as the impressive activism of the Minister of Defense Jean-Yves Le Drian (10 traveling in Qatar since 2012) The French fighter course relied on its own merits.
Where to place the French fighter on a combat aircraft market estimated at 226.3 billion dollars and 2,965 planes over the next ten years by the American firm Teal Group? While Dassault has signed on 4 May the contract with Qatar for 24 aircraft, detailed review at three points
. Controls: can (still) do better
If they demonstrate significant potential, the 84 orders and commitments do not make the Rafale a historic commercial cardboard internationally. The F-16 of Lockheed Martin, the monumental strong US domestic market and exceeds 4,500 orders since its launch … The US is still the single-engine fighter most used in the world, with nearly 2,300 aircraft in service according to Flightglobal, far ahead two other American aircraft, F-18 (more than 1,000 aircraft) and F-15 (865) Boeing. And American dominance is likely to continue: the future F-35 of Lockheed Martin, the most expensive program of the Pentagon, claiming more than 2,000 orders
The following four places of. Top 10 trustees are by Russian aircraft, which also benefit from a market “domestic” important: MiG-29 (857 aircraft), Su-27 and its derivatives (845), and the MiG-21 (698). The Rafale, for now comes to 137 copies to the French army, is still further: it is not in the top ten aircraft in service.
If you look at the performance of aircraft for export, US and Russian leaders also remain well ahead. Russia boasts more than 500 export control family 30 Sukhoi fighter for 15 years (Algeria, Venezuela, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam …). The F-15, sold to Israel, Saudi Arabia, Japan and South Korea, shows a similar performance, far from the 84 Rafale export orders.
But the French fighter again up on several competitors. It gradually catches up with the Swedish Saab Gripen, which counts a hundred export controls, including Brazil, Thailand, the Czech Republic and South Africa. There heels even now the historic rival Eurofighter Typhoon Airbus, BAE and Finmeccanica, which limits for the moment 99 export orders (Saudi Arabia, Austria, Oman). And it will soon rely on market exit Boeing fighter, the F-15 and F-18, scheduled for lack of orders, around 2018, according to the firm Teal Group.
Performance: one of the most complete fighter
The Rafale has not the power of the Russian Sukhoi. It is not as stealthy as the F-22. If he shines in the air shows, it has not all aerobatic capabilities of the Su-35, which may, like the F-22, perform the famous figure of the cobra Pugachev, the pilot under the nose of the device more than 90 degrees at a slow speed. But unlike many competitors, the Rafale was thought as “omnirole” from the program launch in the 80 Clearly, the device is capable, from its origin, intelligence missions of air police , ground strikes, and being on board the aircraft carrier.
The Eurofighter, it was initially thought as an interceptor of Russian fighters, powerful, fast and with relatively low wing. A positioning that still pays: its conversion into aircraft capable ground attack is more painful, the airframe is not designed for this use. The F-15 and Su-30? These excellent jets are powerful machines, but they are not “navalisables”, that is to say, used on aircraft carriers. The F-16 and Gripen, with only one engine for two against the Rafale, does not have the same carrying capacity nor the same independence.
For if it is small compared to its direct competitors, the Rafale displays amazing performance for a plane carrying 10 tonnes. The French manufacturer had unveiled in January 2014 surmusclée a version of its device with 6 AASM guided bombs (Sagem), 4 Mica air to air missiles (MBDA), 2 very long range Meteor missiles (MBDA). This version allowed to keep a substantial autonomy, with three tanks of 2,000 liters of fuel. “By leveraging the capabilities of its 14 hardpoints, including 8 under canopy, the Rafale is the only fighter in the world capable of carrying 1.5 times its own weight ” , then pointed the aircraft manufacturer.
Proof of its qualities, the French aircraft has always been well placed in technical competitions he finished first assessments in Switzerland, and had won against a formidable competition to India (F-18, F-16, Typhoon, MiG-35 and Gripen)
External operations. European aircraft deployed as
Since 2007, the Rafale has been deployed in Afghanistan, Libya, Mali, Central African Republic and Iraq. For comparison, the Swedish Gripen has been deployed in Libya. Ditto for the Eurofighter Typhoon, which conducted ground strikes … but with support from a Tornado GR4 that lit its target laser. The Rafale is, by far, the European fighter aircraft most used in operations, which probably helped to complete its first export sales.
Only US aircraft displayed comparable use, including the F-15 (recently deployed against the IE by the United States and Saudi Arabia), F- 16 (USA, UAE, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Jordan, Morocco …) and the F-18 (Canada, Australia …). Even the F-22 fighter considered the most sophisticated in the world and certainly the most expensive, has so far hardly shone operations: it has so far been screened in Iraq against the EI.
What can we learn from this review of retail? If it appears difficult to attribute the status of best airplane in the world (for what purpose? On what price segment?), The Rafale clearly shows capacities than they monoréacteurs of F-16 and Gripen, and can legitimately claim in a prominent place on the segment of jets, alongside the F-15 and other Sukhoi Su-30. Which places the most likely in the Top 5 of the combat aviation.
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