What conditions? do we know?
Yeah? What’s weird about it? Rafale was always able to take 8 missiles, we just don’t know if it can make micas in place of meteors
Nope.
Four Meteor is the maximum, but may increase with F.5 or even future F.4s, depending on how things develop.
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It’s very easy to find pictures of the Rafale carrying micas on the middle underwing pylons, and everyone knows it can take micas on the wingtips and outer underwing pylons so with the two intake ramp meteors that’s 8
According to some it might even be able to take 10 with two micas underbelly in tandem, even though I don’t know any evidence
Its always easy to find pictures, but whether you know what you’re looking at (or read) is something else entirely .
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You’ll have to scroll down a bit, but there are some pretty clear pictures here
Official Dassault website also has pics
Btw about the underbelly ones I won’t make any certain claims since I haven’t found reliable sources but I suspect it because:
- There are some diagrams floating around the internet that indicate it (ik it’s not reliable but that means it might be a thing)
- The Rafale’s belly hardpoint is in fact two in tandem and the Rafale M only has one and can still carry the same stuff underbelly, the only reason I see for this is these two tandem pylons can each carry a mica (so the M could only carry one)
Rafale before the F3R and F4 testing never actually carried MICA on those underwing pylons. All the pictures you are showing are F4, F3R (India), or F4 testbed (Dassault owned).
Pylons might have existed, but were definitely not used for carrying armement until then, and only arrived on in service rafales with the Indian F3R and French F4
Those diagrams are known and are not trustable
The rafale C does indeed have the super structure for one extra pylon in front of the main pylon used for fuel tanks or bombs. However, appart from the Rafale A which was a testbed and structurally different from the Rafales in service, there has never been plans for the Rafale to carry AAM on those middle pylons. Those are mainly for bombs, but the Rafale usually only carries one singular 1000kg bomb, a fuel tank, or the nuclear missile, taking the place of the second pylon
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Btw, different subjects. While talking with a Safran guy about the AASM XLR, I also talked with a DGA guy on the CFT shown at the Paris Air Show for the rafale. To install those CFTs, the rafale needs structural retrofit to add the fuel lines, so it’s not plug and play at all. I don’t think there’s any chance we’ll see them before F5, if it even gets it
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so most likely CFT will only be on new builds and a select few retrofitted?
Are they even likely to fit them.
Other ahem * aircraft * of a similar configuration found it ruined the aerodynamics so severely it really wasn’t worth the installation costs, also no one was interested in them and the Rafale has some really rather impressive fuel and buddy refuelling capabilities.
I clicked into the Rafale thread, and it’s actually discussions of the Rafale, what is this miracle o.O
That aside, be there any other payload that can occupy the central pylon on the version we have? I am unthrilled with the current bomb, and I am curious if anything else could occupy the space. Is neither here nor there, but got grumpy at it so figured I would ask you lot.
Besides AM.39, SCALP-EG and ASMP-A, not really. The AASM-1000 can be carried on it starting with F.4 though.
Would be nice to have exocet and scalp but we won’t be getting those for a while I’d wager. At least now I know what to hope for in the event they bother to implement these things.
This is handy.
For clarity, GBU 24 is completely adequate as ordnance, I just personally am not thrilled by it and have not been with it on any of the aircraft I like that can carry it.
Gaijin seem really odd about adding anti-ship missiles. They added them as a gimmick on the German Tornado then refused to add them to anything else until randomly the F-2A got them.
They did add proper sea skimming to the AS.34 on the dev server though so maybe they’re preparing to add more anti-ship missiles.
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I have considered pinging smin about that to try and interrogate them to find out if that is the case, because I very much want exocet. I seek to smite the boats.
But also, no idea if it is remotely worth it.
I did. at least a bit
So basically, if its not a benefit to GRB. its a low priority
That is the single least useful answer he could have devised I feel. Bleh.
😿
Guess we won’t be getting exocet any time soon.
Quite bold for a guy that only main F-14 😏
Yeah further research led me to that conclusion. Still I’ve never seen the Rafale carry two separate things on its two belly hardpoints so I wonder what they’re for
Maybe just in case they ever need them for a future ordnance or smth
It’s more about not being a empty-brained nationalist. I just happen to like the F-14.