Aerospace Diary

Neelam Mathews Oct 4, 2012 The DGA (French defense procurement agency)  has officially taken delivery of the Rafale C137, the first production Rafale equipped with the Thales RBE2 AESA radar, at Dassault Aviation's Mérignac establishment near Bordeaux.  The Rafale is the first European combat aircraft in operational service equipped with the AESA. The AESA is an important requirement for india's MMRCA. The RBE2 AESA brings the Rafale operational benefits including  extended range capabilities supporting low-observable target detection and full use of   new weapon systems such as the Meteor air-to-air missile;  higher reliability for reduced maintenance and lower through-life support costs;  greater waveform agility for SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) imaging and improved and  resistance to jamming.

Posted by-Neelam Mathews March 31, 2012 Thales says it delivered the first series-produced RBE2 radar with active electronically scanned array (AESA) to the Dassault Aviation facility in February in Mérignac, France. The radar will now be installed on Rafale C137, the first Rafale with this new capability, which is scheduled for delivery to the French defense procurement agency (DGA) this summer. A comprehensive three-month flight test program conducted with the first production RBE2 AESA radar at the Istres air base demonstrated the qualities of the radar and confirmed the expected levels of performance prior to delivery to Dassault Aviation. The RBE2 AESA radar was delivered in line with the contract schedule, demonstrating the new radar’s technological maturity and further consolidating Thales’s European leadership in radars for combat aircraft. The RBE2 AESA will give the Rafale a number of key advantages, says Thales: - Extended range for full compatibility with the lates...