"Emmanuel Gustin" wrote in message ...
"WaltBJ" wrote in message
om...

IS the Rafale dead? Nobody answered the question.

Rafale is alive, but the French are more or less skipping
the first 'series' of Rafales. Only a dozen production aircraft
(two for the air force, ten for the Navy) were built to 'F1'
standard, basically air-air capability only. Just enough to
create a naval 'Flotille' for the 'Charles de Gaulle' and
support further development.

The main production is now planned to be of upgraded
versions. Rafales to the 'F2' standard, with air-ground
capability, will enter service in 2004, with initial operation
capability in 2006.

This is a pretty horrible procurment strategy. It's basically ...

Research a new design
Build 13 of them
Let the design age for ten years
Update the radar software (and possibly uprate the engines)
Go into series production

Boy, I hope someone in France is regretting not signing onto the
Eurofighter deal. Almost anything would be better than the current
Rafale situation.

The final 198 Rafales for the air force
and 35 for the Navy are to be to the final multi-role 'F3'
standard, delivered from 2008 onwards. Then, all older
Rafales will be upgraded to 'F3' standard.

So the entry in production of Rafale is shifted into the future;
the Mirage 2000 will serve longer. Some of the delay can be
caused by requested modifications (significantly, after the 1991
Gulf War, the French decided that the majority of the Rafales
will have a seat for a WSO) but the main motive is probably
purely financial, the French budgettary situation isn't very
healthy at the moment.

But I suspect that this is a pattern we will see more and more
in combat aircraft development. The time when an air force
could afford to buy models with limited capability and put
them in stock or upgrade them afterwards, is past.

BTW the US armed forces, with the exception of the Navy, didn't have
anything to fight with in 1941, let alone 1939. Look it up.

True. On the other hand the US Congress actually refused to
sell weapons to Britain and France at a very critical moment.

--
Emmanuel Gustin
Emmanuel.Gustin -rem@ve- skynet dot be
Flying Guns Page: http://users.skynet.be/Emmanuel.Gustin/