The Rafale will never have an average RCS of 0.01 m2. Its geometry does not meet these requirements.
If you keep believing the B-2 bomber is of a higher RCS than the Nighthawk despite being a newer design with far more work done to it, as well as a flying tailless design, then I don’t know what to tell you.
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Is it okay that the aircraft designs are different? and the different sweep of the wing, which affects the RCS?
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Why wouldn’t it? The Eurofighter is reported as having an RCS below 1m^2 despite carrying 6 missiles and having less stealth features than the Rafale. Eurofighter - RCS to high (missing RCS reduction features) // Gaijin.net // Issues
Without taking into account the RAM, all aircraft have approximately the same RCS ~0.1-0.5 m^2
Why do you think that is?
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You’re answering my question with a question. How come Eurofighter despite having less stealth attributes than the Rafale can have an RCS lower than 1m^2 (somewhere in the 0.1m region probably) despite simultaneously carrying 6 missiles at the same time?
European NGF
This is nonsense, it is impossible to achieve such results with rockets. And at what angle did it turn out to be less than 1m^2 with what frequency, what wavelength was it?
The Rafale D(A) has an elongated nose shape, wider airframe, differently placed and tilted canards and is less optimized for a reduced RCS. You will have to find a source referring to the Rafale C.
Besides this, Rafale A had less RAM applied / planned than actual production Rafale as far as I am aware as well.
Actually, even less than I remember…
(yes, this is declassified and unlimted)
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Here is a Turkish source that mentions Rafale
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Turkish sources are not something that should be taken seriously, Turkey doesnt have anything remotely close to Rafale and they are incapable of producing 4-5th gen jets, not the to mention their knowledge about Stealth and Avionics are pretty much non exists compare to other nations.
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Is it me or is the radar still slow to acquire the first targets ? And some remain invisible
Tbh for now i don’t see any upgrade over the RDY radar from the 2000-5F (outside of the 31° scan range, which is super slow to acquire targets)
Apologies for the late reply
That model is flawed, the anhedral of the wings is greatly exaggerated
It also over accentuates the dihedral tilt of the canards
The intakes also take on a shape more similar to an eye rather than their actual shape which is designed to reflect waves in towards the inner nose and reflected away from the radar
It seems it is represented in a way that is the absolute least flattering towards its capabilities.
This separate model is has some large flaws as well but seems to more accurately represent the Rafale
so 1.5m^2 average all round, 1m^2 frontal average(if its to be believed which is unlikely)
I don’t know, but that is what the report suggests.
You can see that the Rafale incorporates many stealth features when you compare it to Eurofighter, which many of these papers do not properly assess.
Here’s some examples that you should take a look at when comparing the Rafale with Eurofighter, F-22, or Su-57 for instance:
Serration on Rafale’s canards compared to none on Eurofighter’s:
Shaped serpentine serrated intake for Rafale versus boxy non-serrated intake for EF2K
The Rafale removed dedicated airbrake in favor of using control surfaces instead as an airbrake, similar to F-22, Su-57, further lowering the RCS compared to Eurofighter which has kept the standard airbrake control surface:
Here’s F-22 and Su-57 airbraking with control surfaces instead of having dedicated control surfaces:
Spoiler
Serrated panels on underside of Rafale versus none on Eurofighter:
Note how the Su-57 can rotate its IRST to hide it, Rafale can do the same. However the Eurofighter’s IRST is very much fixed and visible:
Further, the engines of the Rafale went through electromagnetic signature reductions:
The radar is also fixed arrays which helps to considerably reduce radar returns:
Spoiler
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Many of the stealth features seen on the F-22 and Su-57 are readily seen on the Rafale, there’s no avoiding acknowledging that.
If you wish to see more close-up photos of these features, and perhaps discussions about it, feel free to visit these sites:
Serrated panels all across the Rafale [Album] : r/WarplanePorn
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I don’t think a popular book can be a trustworthy source.
Spoiler
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The Indian MOD urgently needed to justify the purchase of such expensive machines.
It’s a pity that the Indians didn’t take a picture of the Rafale from the front, not the side. I think they consulted with Dassault’s marketing department.
At this angle, the Su-30 also doesn’t shine forward very brightly. Sorry, there is no better quality picture. Although there is no doubt that straight ahead Rafale certainly emits less.
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