Page 14 - ADT JUNE - JULY 2021 Online Magazine

as part of Operation Chammal. Commander
Improvements on Rafale F3-R Guillaume assigned to 3/30 “Lorraine” fighter
squadron at Mont-de-Marsan air base 118
Standard: undertook the first operational sortie with
TALIOS as part of his two-month secondment
for Operation Chammal. Guillaume’s mission
• Sustained air superiority capacity, with: consisted of a sortie of just under five hours [ AIR SYSTEMS ]
- The Meteor missile and a robust radar with his single-seat Rafale in tandem with a
(also robust in dense EW situations) two-seater, carrying out a Close Air Support
- An enhanced Spectra EW system (CAS) mission and escorting a ground convoy
- A reinforced alert capacity against enemy threats in the theatre of operations. “What struck me
first was the increased quality of the optical
• Enhanced resilience against GPS jamming sensors provided by this pod. The precision
• Faster decision loop and sustained interoperability of the images allows an analysis of the scene
and a better understanding of the situation ”,
• Higher ground target identification and designation capacity, Guillaume said. “The pilot's job is greatly facili-
with the integration of the new laser designation pod tated, notably through improved laser weapon
(TALIOS) guidance and Augmented Reality elements that
optimize targeting. All in all, the intrinsic lethality
• Sustained in-flight refuelling capacity, with the integration of of the Rafale, with the integration of the Talios,
a new-generation pod (NARANG) is thus amplified ,” he said.
• Integration of the GBU16, laser-guided 500 kg bomb The F3-R for French Air Force and Navy Rafale
aircraft includes upgrades to its sensors and
• Enhanced flight safety, with the integration of an automatic to systems ensuring total interoperability and
ground collision system features the first French integration of an

• Enhanced support system, with an accelerated and more Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System
accurate fault diagnosis capacity (AGCAS), which is also a first for the French
air force. MBDA’s Meteor long-range air-to-
air missile has been integrated along with a
laser homing version of Safran’s AASM Air-to-
Rafale F3-R Brings in New Capabilties Ground Modular Weapon. The first guided test
Development of the F3-R Standard can be considered as the defin- of a Meteor from Rafale took place in April 2015
itive version of Rafale, which entered French air force service in and deliveries started from 2018, with the intent
2006. Development of the F3-R Standard commenced at the end to equip all French Rafales with the long-range
of 2013 and was qualified by DGA in October 2018. In March 2021, missiles. The 200 kg Class Meteor missile is
Admiral Pierre Vandier – Chief of Staff of the French Navy, and Air guided to the target by an electromagnetic
Force General Philippe Lavigne – Chief of Staff of the French Air seeker and is propelled using a ramjet in its
and Space Force jointly announced their approval for entry into cruise phase. The laser homing AASM ver-
operational service of the Rafale F3-R. The new fighter jet has sion integrated on F3-Rs is especially suited
already been deployed to meet French operational commitments to destroying moving targets out to distances
in Afghanistan, Libya and Mali. Rafale’s operated from the aircraft of several tens of kilometers with metric pre-
carrier Charles-de-Gaulle and air force jets deployed from forward cision. It will also be possible to control the
air bases in Jordan within the framework of operation Chammal munition flight time, laser illumination and the
will also be upgraded. Half of the French navy and air force fleets in-flight weapon settings for terminal laser guid-
have already been upgraded to F3-R Standard with the remaining ance AASMs. Rafale Marine F3-R aircraft are
aircraft to receive the upgrades in a phased manner. equipped with a new generation in-flight refu-
eling nacelle, allowing the ability to use laser
The new-generation TALIOS laser designator pod for use in air- terminal guided AASMs.
to-ground strikes in daylight or darkness, further enhances the
Rafale F3-R’s precision engagement capability. It replaces the French Rafales are current based at Air Base
Damocles targeting pod in French service and will equip all Rafale 113 at Saint-Dizier with1/4 “Gascogne” fighter
squadrons. TALIOS can generate images in both the visible and squadron. 3/4 “Aquitaine” Rafale transformation
infrared ranges and will also be able to perform intelligence and squadrons, Air Base 118 at Mont-de-Marsan
target acquisition, and tracking and designation missions. It also with 2/30 “Normandie-Niémen”, 3/30 “Lorraine”
features new and more efficient fixed or moving target tracking fighter squadrons and the 1/30 “Silver Coast”
capacities, as well as an automatic moving target detection capac- fighter and experimentation squadron. Outside
ity and a new easier to use human-machine interface. The French mainland France, some Rafale are deployed
air force introduced the TALIOS pod into service at the end of at Air Base at Al Dhafra with 1/7 “Provence”
October, 2020 and it was used for the first time during a mission fighter squadron.

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