France Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

The target date Rafale

Here is what it looked like the supply depot of the Iraqi army, taken by EI management there
weeks. Five points were to be affected by GBU-12 Rafales, but shot four of them to save enough to last shooting schedule. The shootings have ranged between 9:40 ET 9:58, presumably to allow time for the explosion to dissipate fumes, and ATL-2 to conduct damage assessment.
The Humvee mentioned earlier this afternoon is visible to the left of the central structure, with some other flatbed trucks and pick up, clearly visible in the "pre-strike" cartridge.
On any of the three pictures all you see of human presence.
At this stage, the EMA has not detailed the results of this first strike, carried a Friday, the day after the press conference of the president and army chief.
The photo is credited no details of the EMA, but it is likely that it is the ATL-2 23F marauding around the site, which has taken the shot.
The latter has stolen two times longer than the Rafale, ten hours.

Click to expand...

Deployed in the Persian Gulf since the beginning of the month, French Navy's Atlantique 2 (ATL2) maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) belonging to naval air squadron 23F are currently deployed to Al Dhafra air base in the United Arab Emirates. On Sept 17, it flew its first reconnaissance mission in Iraqi airspace and on the 19th it provided ISTAR (Intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance) support for the first French raid against ISIL and then povided damage assessment reports.

Click to expand...

Initially in 2013, order of De Grasse, fourth nuclear submarine attack Barracuda type was finally notified on July 18 at DCNS. An eagerly awaited by the French industrial signature, this major program representing the bulk of the workload of the site Cherbourg. Norman site is now working on the completion of the seed, the Suffren, notified in 2007 and the first exit to the sea is planned for late 2016 for delivery a year later. The next two units, the Duguay-Trouin and Tourville (ordered in 2009 and 2011), are also under construction.

The one-year deferral of the order of De Grasse flows from spreading the Barracuda program imposed by budgetary constraints faced by the Ministry of Defence. Therefore, the production rate of the new SNA National Marine slowed from the second copy, with delivery delayed after the current military planning law (2014-2019). Thus, Duguay Trouin expected to join the French fleet end of 2020, three years after Suffren. It is then expected that other submarines of the series, including the target of six units was confirmed to be delivered every two to two and a half years, the sixth and final Barracuda to be received by the Navy in 2029, two years after the date originally scheduled.

Bigger and better than the six Rubis-type SNA (commissioned between 1983 and 1993) they are to replace, the Barracuda will measure 99.5 meters long and be displaced from 5300 tonnes. Manned by a crew of 60 sailors, which could be partially feminized, these buildings can nuclear powered ship 20 weapons, including missiles and F21 heavyweight torpedoes anti-ship Exocet SM39 Block2 Mod2. The Barracuda will be the first French submarines to implement cruise missiles, specifically the version change mid MdCN which equip FREMM frigates type from 2015.

Click to expand...

The FREMM Provence, intended for the French Navy, just completed its first sea outing on October 1st. This event marks the start of the vessel’s sea trials, which will be conducted off the Brittany coast over the next few weeks.

DCNS has now completed the first sea outing of the FREMM Provence on the Lorient site, the third of the series of vessels ordered by OCCAR on behalf of the DGA (Direction générale de l’armement) and the French Navy. During this first sea outing, the main objective was to test the performance of the vessel’s propulsion and navigation systems.

Click to expand...

As part of the EURONAVAL Press Tour, Navy Recognition had the chance to visit the MBDA site of Selles Saint Denis last week. This “missile factory” is the European Missile Integration Center. During our tour, we got the chance to see the production lines of the Exocet family of anti-ship missiles, Mica and Aster anti-air missiles and Scalp cruise missiles. But the highlight of the visit was by far when MBDA showed us two freshly assembled Naval Cruise Missile (NCM or MdCN in French).

Click to expand...

On Friday, 3 October, the Dassault Aviation plant in Mérignac (France) delivered to the French defense procurement agency (DGA) the Rafale M10, the first of a tranche of ten retrofitted Rafale “Marine” (Navy) aircraft. These ten Rafale aircraft (M1 to M10) were produced from the late 1990s to replace the F-8 Crusaders aircraft that provided air defense for the French navy since 1964. As this replacement could not wait for the service entry of the versatile F2 and F3 standards, the ten Rafale Marine were provided with a so-called basic F1 standard, limited to superiority and air defense missions only.

...

The transition from the F1 standard to the F3 standard involves the following changes:
» New modular electronic computers,
» New cockpit screens,
» Changes to the aircraft’s electrical wiring,
» Upgrading of the Spectra countermeasures system,
» Changes to the RBE2 PESA radar (interchangeable with the new AESA antenna),
» Changes to the weapon store stations.

The delivery of the retrofitted Rafale Marine aircraft will be staggered over a period up to 2017.

The F3 standard provides the Navy and Air Force Rafale with complete versatility to carry out the following missions:
» Interception and air-to-air combat with 30mm gun and Mica IR/EM missiles (+ Meteor missiles from 2018 onwards).
» Ground support with 30mm gun, GBU-12/24 laser-guided bombs and Hammer precision-guided bombs.
» In depth strikes with Scalp cruise missiles.
» Sea strikes with the Exocet AM39 Block 2 missile and other air-to-surface weapons.
» Real-time strategic and tactical reconnaissance with the Areos pod.
» In-flight refueling from one Rafale to another (“buddy-buddy”).
» Nuclear deterrence with the ASMP-A missile.

Click to expand...