Filenews 18 January 2022
It was January 25, 2021 when the Greek minister. National Defence, Nikos Panagiotopoulos and his French counterpart, Florence Parli, signed the contract for the purchase of the 18 French Rafale fighter jets.
Almost a year later, the Air Force is preparing feverishly as tomorrow the first six fighters are expected in Greece. According to information from the iefimerida.gr the first Rafale with the Greek flag are expected at noon on Wednesday, around 12:30, with final destination the 114 Combat Wing in Tanagra. But before landing in Tanagra for the scheduled ceremony they will make a crossing over the Acropolis.
It is noted that last Friday (14/1) the Deputy Minister of National Defence Nikos Chardalias visited the 114 Combat Wing at the Tanagra Air Base in order to be informed about the work that has been carried out for the arrival of the aircraft.
From time to time videos from the Merikian base, near Bordeaux, where the Greek pilots were being trained, were coming to light.
In the €2.32 billion agreement, the commission has not been set up for this purpose. €1.92 billion is forecast to be spent on the next five years. The value of aircraft and the remaining EUR 400 million are in the value of the aircraft. Euro relate to weapon systems (meteor remotely controlled missiles and necessary upgrades of existing Mica, Scalp and Ecoxet missiles).
The design of the Rafale fighters
The Rafale is a twin-engine fighter, multi-role fighter. This means that it can simultaneously perform missions of a different type, such as aerial superiority, impact, reconnaissance, etc. It has a combination of a Delta-style wing and a canards, which gives it excellent agility while maintaining stability during flight. It can take off from small runways of about 400 meters, as well as from aircraft carriers. This is made possible by changing about 20% of the parts of the aircraft with others, of higher strength, in the Rafale M.
The Rafele fighter with the Greek flag
The Rafale's key features follow the well-trodden path for modern fighters. Guided by a control system that uses the fly-by-wire technology of three digital channels and one analogue, the aircraft is allowed to be aerodynamically unstable to achieve maximum e-mailability. The acceleration limits of the aircraft are +9g/-3.2g.
The Rafale is designed in terms of shape and construction materials to have as low a radar footprint as possible. Part of this design is the Thales company's SPECTRA self-protection and electronic warfare system SPECTRA.
The categorization of the technology used as top secret and Thales' refusal to allow its use on other aircraft has prompted rumours that the system uses active cancellation technology to neutralize incoming radar signals.
Following its electronic equipment, the aircraft carries the Thales RBE2 radar, which is capable of simultaneously tracing multiple targets in the air. At the same time, it can create three-dimensional terrain maps for real-time navigation or targeting.
If required by the mission, the Rafale has the ability to track a target and launch an air-to-air missile without having to reveal its location, thanks to Thales' OSF system. This system is fully integrated into the aircraft and operates with infrared technology.
The Rafale's "glass cockpit"
To manage its systems, the Rafale uses a fully "glass cockpit", with three multifunctional displays (MFDs), holographic HUD as well as a HOTAS side controller. The concept of the "glass cockpit" (Glass Cockpit) refers to the replacement of the main controls of the fighter with electronic displays on multifunctional displays.
For its propulsion, the Rafale uses two afterburned SCECMA M88-2 turbopropuls with a total thrust force of 150 kN.
The characteristics of Rafale fighters
- Crew: 1 or 2
- Manufacturer: Dassault Aviation
- Dimensions: Length 15,27 meters
- Wingspan: 10,8 meters
- Height: 5,34 meters
- Wing area: 45,7 m²
- Weight: License: 9,500 kg / Full: 19,000 kg / Take-off maximum: 24,500 kg
- Power source: 2 x SNECMA M88 Engines
- Power: 33,000 lbf 146 kN
- Performance: Maximum Mach speed 1.8, 2150 km/h
- Autonomy: 1100+ mi, 1800+ km
- Maximum height: 55,000 ft, 16,800 meters
- Climb: 1,000 ft/sec, 305 m/sec
