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2
November 2000 |
...as French Navy gets the go-ahead for two-seater Rafales
The French Navy has
been given the green light to change its order for the naval variant of
Rafale to ensure that up to 40 of the 60 fighters it intends to buy will
be two-seat aircraft. Under the original contract with manufacturer Dassault
Aviation all were to have been single-seat fighters.
"The government fully agrees with the Navy's wish to switch to a
twin-seat version in the light of experience from the Kosovo conflict,"
French defense minister Alain Richard said last month in echoing the growing
conviction in military circles that a two-man crew would be required if
the navy's fighter, designated Rafale M, were to operate effectively in
a hostile environment.
The French armaments board, Delegation Generale pour l'Armement, will
shortly award a pre-development contract to Dassault to start working
on a two-seater variant, to be known as Rafale BM (for Biplace Marine).
Development proper is to start in late 2001 and trials of Rafale BM will
be conducted in 2002 and 2003. First delivery is set for 2005.
Naval sources said none of the 20 single-seat Rafales already ordered
by the navy will be converted to a two-seat configuration; the first Rafale
two-seater coming off the assembly line will be number 21 in the 60-aircraft
production run. The navy has yet to decide whether all of the remaining
40 should be twin-seaters. Some argue that four or five should be single-seaters
to allow for possible attrition of earlier models.
DGA and Dassault claim the switch will increase the price of France's
naval Rafale fleet by only 5%, or by Ffr1.5 billion (US$198 million).
Dassault's designers say a second seat would increase the aircraft's weight
by 200kg, but that this weight gain would be completely offset by removing
the internal cannon currently equipping the single-seat variant. They
also argue that the great similarity in the airframe of the three Rafales
already under construction - the air force's single- and two-seat variants
and the single-seat Rafale M - will make it extremely easy to build the
navy's two-seater. They would mate the rear fueselage of a single-seat
Rafale M minus the cannon onto the forward fuselage of an air force two-seater.
The stronger landing gear of the Rafale M compared to the air force variant
would be added to the BM and a fuel reserve behind the single-seat cockpit
would be displaced to the empty cannon bay in the two-seater version,
which has space for 200 liters. Dassault adds that the electronics would
be essentially the same as in the air force two-seater.
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N
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