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French manufacturers have baptized it as Rafale and its name in Greek translates as “gust of wind”, a name that fully coincides with its stormy action in ethers and in business.
The experts first analyze when referring to a combat aircraft is the so-called “Generation (ss Gen)” to which it belongs as a combat aircraft: “It is an aircraft belonging to the generation that we define as” 4.5 Generation “for aircraft fighters, the fighter that is the backbone of the French Air Force together with the Mirage 2000 in its latest versions “, responds speaking to the radio station of APE BPE,” Agency 104.9FM “Mr. Faidon Karaiosifidis, aeronautical Magazine of aeronautical technology “Flight”, which explains that this fighter – which will directly reinforce the Greek wings as announced on Saturday at the Elexpo Forum in Thessaloniki by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis – had been proposed in the recent past by the French aviation industry for the needs of the Greek Air Force.
Given that the Greek Palestinian Authority has a very large percentage of US-sourced fighter jets before and after the change of government, Karaiosifidis explains that for the past 40 years and more it is a tradition to have a limited number of US fighter jets present. French origin in the total Greek fleet. PA, a tradition that has specific operational benefits.
“More or less the types of American fighters are similar in Greece and Turkey, so it has been estimated that the presence of French fighters, first with the Mirage F1, then with the acquisition of the most advanced versions of the third and fourth generation of Mirage 2000 fighters give an advantage in the Aegean. This happens because the French fighter is an aircraft that the other party does not “know”, explains Mr. Karaiosifidis, who emphasizes that the great change in the composition of the Greek PA had arrived with the first, then characterized, “Market of the Century.”, in the late 80s and early 90s, supply of 40 M2000 fighters. For the first time, Greece had acquired French third-generation fighters together with its first 40 F -16 Americans.
The Rafale and the European hunting school “planes” of the 4th Generation of the 90s
However, after the third generation models, the continuation, for the European aeronautical industry, came with plans to build fourth generation fighter jets. The French Rafale was developed almost simultaneously with another European project, the “European Fighter 2000” (Eurofighter EF2000) which later evolved into the Typhoon aircraft, for which Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom collaborated. . Thus, two fourth-generation fighters were designed by European industry in practically the same period, although in 1983, and for a short period, France initially participated with these other countries in a joint project, the Future European Fighter Aircraft.
After a dispute, this “alliance” was dissolved and eventually not one but two fourth-generation fighters, the EF2000 and the Rafale, emerged after France decided to develop its own aircraft. The result was a decade after the refined prototype of the Eurofighter “Typhoon” from the other four countries to fly in March 1994 while France’s first Rafale C had made its first prototype flight in 1991.
The French, after the first flight, developed their fighter for many years, which entered service only in 2002 for the AP and its Navy. Important years of development have resulted in the use of advanced technologies especially in materials and electronics, while manufacturers have used French Dassault Systèmes systems such as the famous “CATIA in the development of pioneering computer design programs for aircraft. “a three-dimensional design (CAD), construction (CAM) and mechanical integration (CAE) system of his own invention.
This development has resulted in the Rafale’s creators claiming that their fighter – although it cannot be described as purely stealthy, something that is currently attributed to the American F-35 and F-22 fighters, of which only the former is exported. Outside the United States- It has many elements that make it difficult to locate such as exotic construction materials, special design of the air intake for the engines, etc.
“This is the reason why the fighter is characterized as Generation 4.5+ and not as 5th, as it should have a true stealth design to do this,” explains Mr. Karaiosifidis. However, where the emphasis is placed by the manufacturer and the country when describing this creation of French aeronautical technology, it is “on the electronic systems and weapons of which the French are especially proud”, adds the Greek aeronaut.
The “electronic” fighter and the “… sarissa of the Greek AP”
The French claim that technology should be the fighter’s trump card for years to come and have decided to keep it at the forefront in the era of “network-centric” warfare, as it is called. During her visit to Dassault Aviation in Mérignac, France, in January 2019, French Defense Minister Florence Parly announced a new phase of development of the Rafale fighter, with an initial cost of 1.9 billion euros. Their goal is to integrate a new version (Rafale F4) into the fighter plane with Artificial Intelligence, state-of-the-art electronics, new weapons, sensors and a system to reduce maintenance costs ”, explains Mr. Karaiosifidis. Particularly noteworthy is the integration in the fighter over the next few years of a more advanced aircraft protection system, the Confidential Self-Protection Equipment to Counter Threats to Rafale Aircraft (SPECTRA), which is the reason why a possible introduction to a service Greek type fighter can be a power amplifier / multiplier. “
Commercial use and the needs of Greece
As for the air forces that have chosen him, the French Rafale has been selected by the PAs of India, Egypt and Qatar, while, according to official information, he has seen military action in Afghanistan, Libya, Mali, Iraq and Syria.
“Apart from characteristics such as technology, flight range, etc., an element that must be highlighted are the weapons that I think the country must acquire to take advantage of any advantage of this type. Thus, on the one hand, this particular fighter will be able to carry most, if not all, of the weapons that the Greek Mirage 2000 currently carries on missions in the two versions available in Greece, on the other hand the Rafale F3R – and then upgraded to F4 – it will. can simultaneously carry two SCALP missiles for substrategic impact, but also long-range air-to-air Meteor missiles, “explains Mr. Karaiosifidis, who stands out especially in the latest weapons system whose acquisition he emphasizes will be out of the question afterwards. of the purchase of this fighter plane.
“The latter are the best of their class in service in the Western world today, with a very wide range of ‘hitting’ an enemy fighter that exceeds 100 kilometers. “It will be a ‘long sari’ of Greece in the air,” explains the Greek expert in aviation systems.
Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
