maybe, well have to wait a while to see
Something interesting to note during my research with the Rafale. I’ll also share the source. We know very well how the Rafale had fared against the Eurofighter, Gripen, and Hornet during the Swiss studies. We now get an even closer glimpse of how the Rafale fared against the F-35 and Eurofighter for the Dutch when the Dutch assessed all 3 options. There’s even an interesting comment about its competitiveness against the F-22!
It should be noted that when the Dutch evaluated the Rafale, Eurofighter, F-35 and Gripen, all 4 aircrafts were fairly premature and did not have their full capabilities realized. But this paper does accomplish doing away with the narrative that the European nations largely selected the F-35 early on because it was “better” than the Rafale.
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Beautiful
F.4.2 will improve Software and introduce MICA NG, its still compatible with old airframes, their stop gap at the same time (considering there is no F.4.3 coming). RBE2-XG etc will be part of F.5.
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F4.2 won’t be compatible with any variant older than F4.1 (included)
Fiber optic / cable changes afaik.
F4.2 (or native F4) will be prepared with F5 cables already implemented and will be upgradable to that new standard later down the road, but not the current F4.1 (non native F4)
That piece of info is still blurry for now however, so it is to take with a pinch of salt
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when is it all set to enter service? all of this seems pretty far down the line
F4.2 next year (2025)
F5 ? Difficult to say for now, but around 2030
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Maybe 8% but that is approximately the lowest you’ll find for channel losses on a fighter jet capable of mach 2. The reason is that there is friction and pressure changes in the intake tunnel leading to the engine that will cause such losses.
The geometry of the intake must be long enough and shaped in a sufficient manner to produce shockwaves at supersonic speeds. These waves are shaped in a manner that they slow down the incoming air to subsonic speeds - optimally below 0.5 mach before they enter the engine. This also causes compression and makes it so that less compressor stages are required of the more modern turbofans.
With any design, the intake lip itself is optimized for certain flight envelope conditions and it is almost always not optimized for static operation. As such, channel losses at static conditions are at a lower limit of around 8% and an upper limit around 10% for modern fighter aircraft for all the above reasons.
Some accelerations been made and with luck some Rafale F5 could already be seen in service as soon as 2027-2028.
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the F5 thingy i’m waiting for the most is FMAN/FMC (FC/ASW)
that thing looks stupid as hell (in a good way)
On the same assessment, we can consider HX Challenge,…
F-35 was called to be tested in finland by 4 cells
Only 2 of the 4 cells arrived, due to “tanker aircraft problems”
Alongside that 2x C-17 Glomaster III transport aircraft (150+ tons of capacity) came by for the logistics of the 2xF-35
And tests (40 flights) were completed by only 1 aircraft (out of 4 announced), due to complications for the second aircraft that arrived.
,…
In comparison, France sent 2 Rafales, and only 1 C-130 transport aircraft (19 tons of cargo, in C-130H standard)
PS:
Photo about TARGO II from Elbit, used on french F.3R standard aircrafts, within this source - photo are recent, those were made at HX Fighter Challenge in Finland January 2020
Source: https://omnirole-rafale.com/hx-challenge/)
Yep, silly little nose camera thingo definitely no longer tracks any air targets locked up with irst or radar. Definitely unhelpful for target ID. Was this an intended change if anyone knows?
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Are there any sources that can either affirm or challenge the current implementation of the Rafale’s in game FM? It seems like the Mirage 2000 shouldn’t be able to out-rate the Rafale at low speeds nor should the Rafale rip its wings in level flight, but I can’t find definitive sources that neatly compares the Rafale’s maneuverability with other fighters, flight manuals strictly warning pilots against flying with burners on at low altitudes, or anything of the like that would at least confirm or deny the legitimacy of how the plane is depicted in game right now.
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Rafale should have reduced infrared signature
https://community.gaijin.net/issues/p/warthunder/i/PxnCSnRrUmnl
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Love to see it, modern technology is amazing
https://community.gaijin.net/issues/p/warthunder/i/a2dRgFaJLTk2
what nonsense, Raphael doesn’t have a body shape to reduce RCS
Merry Christmas !
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This is bullshit
Responding to one questionable statement with another questionable statement is the wrong way to go.
What about the B-1B on your picture?