Nem tudo sao flores no Rafale?:
Problems (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_Rafale):
The Rafale is an almost unparallelled achievement for a single
nation, as equivalent fighter programmes have been undertaken by
much larger companies or collaboratively by several nations. As an
aircraft to meet French requirements (combining a robust carrier
capability and good air-to-ground potential) Rafale could not be
bettered, while the programme's unilateral nature afforded great
focus, and protected it from many of the political factors which
have so dogged the rival Eurofighter. Any problems (and those listed
here are disputed) should be viewed in this light.
There have, however, been increasingly critical comments about
Rafale from members of the National Assembly's Finance and Defence
Commissions, and there have been reports of disagreements between
Dassault and DGA about cost increases and obsolescence.
According to
Defence Analysis (p.17, Vol 8.No.12 December 2005) Dassault have
called the RBE2 radar 'fatally flawed' alleging that its range
was "inadequate" and averring that the Rafale therefore relied on
AWACS support to overcome this.
The DGA also described Rafale's OSF ("Optronique Secteur Frontal") as "obsolescent" and production has been cut back to just 48 units, rather than the planned number, which was to have been sufficient to equip all F1 and F2 versions.
While UK and German newspapers have been energetic in their
criticism of Typhoon, Rafale has enjoyed a much gentler ride, and
many of Rafale's problems (which have been similar in nature, scope
and extent to those suffered by the rival Eurofighter) have seldom
emerged until long after they were solved, or remain unsubstantiated
rumour, though there have been exceptions. According to Defense
News, Air Force Gen. Eric Rouzaud revealed that early deliveries of
the Rafale were prone to a software glitch that cut out part of the
flight system, requiring the pilot to hit the reset button. The
fault has been fixed, Rouzaud said.
There were reports that problems with the "Central Processor" led to
only three of five Rafales being delivered during 2004, and
suggestions that the same problem led to a shortfall of deliveries
(against the planned schedule) in 2005.
There was a two year delay in signing the production contract for
the 59 F2 standard Rafales, and the order due to be placed in 2006
has dropped from 82 aircraft (65 AdlA, 17 Aéronavale) to just 66 (48
AdlA, 18 Aéronavale) (according to the Vincon Senate report). The
Pintat report indicated that this reduced order has also been
slipped to 2007.
Still subject to delays, the Rafale (once progressing well ahead of
the rival Eurofighter) has still not entered full operational
service with the Armée de l'Air, and less than a dozen are in use
with the French Air Force for trials, evaluation and conversion
training with EC330. Though the aircraft entered operational service
with the Aéronavale in 2004 Flotille 12 still has only 9 Rafales
(less than a full Flotille) and
is currently limited to Air-to-Air
combat (F1 software/hardware standard).
There are concerns that
operational loads (especially in the long range air to surface role)
will be limited by the present engine's relatively modest thrust.
A "Post F3" configuration
is now being discussed, this will be
fitted with an active array radar, which is necessary to fully
exploit the MBDA Meteor.
More controversially, some sources (including Francis Tusa's
industry newsletter, Defence Analysis) maintain that the aircraft
compares unfavourably with Eurofighter's Typhoon in the air to air
role, though this is vigorously denied in other quarters. Though it
uses a modern and extremely efficient canard Delta configuration,
Rafale has been accused of being hampered by an old fashioned
and 'cumbersome' Man Machine Interface, and it has been further
suggested that this was the main reason behind the type's rejection
by South Korea and Singapore.
According to Defence Analysis and Flight Daily News,
the Singapore
evaluation also reportedly revealed problems with Rafale's
reliability and availability, and that the aircraft failed to
demonstrate claimed radar performance or its claimed ability to
supercruise. Singapore was also reportedly unimpressed by Rafale's
much vaunted "Omni role" capability. "Show us, properly" was said to
have been the reaction, according to Defence Analysis. The lack of
official comment by Singapore leads many to dismiss such criticism
as unreliable hearsay, however.
If criticism of under-powered engines and the passive electron-scan
radar (which Defence Analysis say is viewed by many as a
technological dead end) is to be overcome,
Dassault badly need to
fund the advanced F3 variant, but this is unlikely to happen quickly
without an export customer (according to Aviation Week and Space
Technology). A fully-developed F3 would, however, seem much more
likely to gain export success. In January 2005 it was announced that
eight aircraft would be cut from French orders specifically to free
up funding for advanced radar development, while Meteor integration
is also being accelerated.
Whatever Rafale's supposed "weaknesses" it must be acknowledged that
the type has been quietly gathering real operational experience in
the air-to-air role since the first Rafale Ms were delivered to the
Aéronavale, and this alone is a significant advantage, giving the
type great credibility. Moreover, while development of some
competing aircraft has often been delayed because manufacturers have
been unwilling to press ahead "at risk" the relationship between
Dassault and the French government and military has allowed the
development programme to press ahead at a ferocious pace.
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