First Rafale-M upgraded to F3 standard delivered

© Dassault Aviation - P. Dhaud Dassault Aviation delivered the first Rafale Marine fighter jet retrofitted to F3 standard to French defen...

© Dassault Aviation - P. Dhaud

Dassault Aviation delivered the first Rafale Marine fighter jet retrofitted to F3 standard to French defence procurement agency DGA on Oct 3.

The Rafale M10, the first of the ten Rafale M fighters (M1 to M10), were produced from the late 1990s to replace French Navy's F-8 Crusader air defense fighters which served from 1964.

These ten intial Rafale M's were built to the basic F1 standard with capabilities limited to air superiority and air defense missions. Later versions were built to the F2 and followed by F3 standards in phase.

Current French Navy and Air Force Rafale's are built to the F3 standard. The upgrade from F2 to the F3 standard is easier, while F1 to F3 is more complex and requires a specific program. A retrofit contract was thus entered into in 2009 between Dassault Aviation, Thales, MBDA, Sagem, the French aerospace industrial department (SIAé) and the French Navy.
The transition from the F1 standard to the F3 standard involves the following changes:

1. New modular electronic computers.

2. New cockpit displays.

3. Changes to the aircraft’s electrical wiring.

4. Upgrading of the Spectra countermeasures system.

5. Changes to the RBE2 PESA radar (interchangeable with the new AESA antenna).

6. Changes to the weapon store stations.

The F3 standard provides the Navy and Air Force Rafale with complete versatility to carry out the following missions:

1. Interception and air-to-air combat with 30mm gun and Mica IR/EM missiles (+ Meteor missiles from 2018 onwards).

2. Ground support with 30mm gun, GBU-12/24 laser-guided bombs and Hammer precision-guided bombs.

3. In deep penetration strikes with Scalp cruise missiles.

4. Sea strikes with the Exocet AM39 Block 2 missile and other air-to-surface weapons.

5. Real-time strategic and tactical reconnaissance with the Areos pod.

6. In-flight refueling from one Rafale to another (buddy-buddy).
7. Nuclear capability with the ASMP-A missile.

The delivery of the retrofitted Rafale Marine will be completed in 2017.
French Navy and Air Force has ordered 180 Rafales of which 133 have been delivered. The multi role Rafale gradually replaced seven types of previous-generation combat aircraft wich French armed forces.

According to the White Paper on Defense and National Security (2013), there will be eventually 225 combat aircraft in the French Navy and French Air Force, compared with almost 700 in the 90s.
The Rafale fleet has now flown a total of 120,000 flight hours, 16,000 of which during operations. Since mid-2013, series-production Rafale have been provided with the Thales RBE2 AESA active-antenna radar.

Since its service entry, the Rafale has been used in all theatres of operations: Afghanistan, Libya, Mali, Central Africa and Iraq.