The Rafale has yet to taste its first export success, having fared well in a South Korean evaluation only to finish runner-up to Boeing’s F-15K for an initial 40-aircraft deal. The same aircraft are now doing battle to meet Singapore’s air force requirement for up to 20 new strike aircraft, with Boeing this time promoting the F-15T.
Singapore earlier this year eliminated the four-nation Eurofighter Typhoon from the contest and is expected to announce a selection over the coming months.
The entry into service of the French air force’s Rafale B/C late next year and the availability of a more capable software standard will serve to boost the type’s international prospects. Potential buyers have already been shown the F2 standard aircraft’s future capabilities using a modified F1 configuration, including multifunction operations and use of multiple aircraft sensors. Flight demonstrations have been conducted for over 10 nations – believed to include Greece, India, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and South Korea – and over 150 foreign pilots have flown the aircraft, including on solo sorties. However, campaigns in Australia and the United Arab Emirates also proved unsuccessful, with the Rafale finishing behind Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and its Block 60 F-16E/F Desert Falcon, respectively. Saudi Arabia has stated an early interest in acquiring the Rafale, but Dassault says its current level of commitment falls well short of a formal platform selection.
Export business will prove vital if Dassault is to produce the Rafale at its optimum rate of around three aircraft per month, with France’s current multi-year order strategy limiting output to around one a month at its Merignac manufacturing site. Overseas business could also speed the availability of enhanced capabilities not yet selected by the French armed forces, including the potential addition of conformal fuel tanks, an increased maximum take-off weight of over 27t and the introduction of direct voice input (DVI), flight testing of which has already taken place.
Paris has yet to select the DVI system for its aircraft, but Dassault is hopeful that it could yet be included in the F3 standard and pilot adviser Jean Camus adds: “I think our first export customer will buy the system.”
Source: Flight International
