Rafale can replace 7 different types of aircraft. That means the Rafale can undertake 7 different kind of missions which earlier required required 7 different kind of aircraft. Few of these missions can be undertaken in a single sortie. That’s why the Rafale is called Omni-role fighter.
Rafale would “boost” India’s air power if it offers something on top of what we have in terms of our best fighter Su-30MKI. Here are few things in consideration:
Radar Cross Section:
Rafale is a 4th generation fighter which means it is ahead of usual 4th generation fighter but is not a fully operational 5th generation fighter. It’s design incorporates stealth characteristics by using RAM (radar absorbing materials).
Stealth design features also include S-shaped engine inlets, serrated edges and a channel exhaust cooling scheme designed to reduce infrared signature. All These gives the Rafale a radar cross section between 0.1 – 1.0 square meters which is more than 10 times lower than a Su-30MKI which has a cross section of 4 square meter from the front & 21 square meter from the top/bottom.
Pic: Size comparison between Rafale & Su-30MKI.
That means while the Rafale can track & hunt aircraft like the Pakistani F-16 & JF-17 & the Chinese J-11 & J-16, they can’t see the Rafale unless it comes very near to them. Thus Rafale can fire from a greater & safer distance which brings me to my next point.
Air to Air armament:
All versions of the Rafale are equipped with what is internationally known as the best beyond visual range air to air missile (BVRAAM) of the world, the Meteor Missile. It has range of over hundred 100 km but what makes it different is the No escape zone (NEZ) which is of 60 km. That means if fired within 60 km of the target the missile will hit the target for sure. Usually the NEZ for contemporary missiles is of 20–25 km only.
Usually from a longer range the hit probability of single/dual pulse rocket motors based BVR missiles is 30–40 %. In case of Meteor missile this goes to as high as 60%.
The Meteor achieves this essentially because of its propulsion system. It uses a solid-fueled ramjet motor which allows the missile to cruise at a speed of over Mach 4 and provides the missile with thrust and mid-way acceleration to target intercept. This Throttle Ducted Rocket (TDR) motor is a pinnacle of missile technology something that even India is developing as the Astra Mk3 in the form of SFDR (solid fuel ducted ramjet).
Pic: Astra Mk3 – SFDR based missile. Ground based test.
Also the missile & the aircraft “talk” to each other. A two-way datalink enables the launch aircraft to provide mid-course target updates or re-targeting. Also the MICA-IR/EF short range missiles are a game changer when the battle comes to within visual range (WVR).
Currently the best of the line Su-30MKI uses the R-77 & RVV-AE (pic above) which are very decent missiles with 110 km range but they have single impulse rocket motor. Which means the rocket provides thrust in a short burst & the missile is propelled through it’s entire flight with the momentum only. Thus it bleeds energy rapidly in the end game if the target maneuvers rapidly.
Air to Ground armament:
Rafale comes with two major air to ground weapons:
- SCALPE-EG missile: It is stand-off long range cruise missile capable of hitting targets at 560 km. Now it’s not an ordinary cruise missile. Just like the aircraft the missile is also a stealth missile. It cannot be detected easily unless it comes very close to the target, at which point the target wont have anywhere to escape. Also thanks to such a huge range targets can be hit from a far away distance without having to invade the enemy’s surface to air defence bubbles.
- HAMMER missile: This is a bomb converted missile more optimised to attack ground targets in a shorter range where the target is low value & doesn’t necessitate firing a costly missile such as the SCALPE-EG. With a 50-70 km range, Rafale can carry 6 of these in one sortie. The Hammer being a precision guided weapon can hits target accurately even if they are in a mountainous terrain.
Currently the Sukhoi carries SPICE munition which is comparable to HAMMER albeit being more costly. The Su-30MKI can also fire the Russian Kh-59 cruise missile but it is nowhere as advanced as the SCALPE-EG. With the integration of BrahMos in Su-30MKI, the land attack capabilities are recently enhanced in the 40 Su-30s being upgraded to carry the supersonic missile.
Electronic Warfare suite:
This feature alone can turn tables.
The Rafale is equipped with a full fledged elaborate electronic warfare suite called SPECTRA (Self-Protection Equipment Countering Threats to Rafale Aircraft). The system incorporates radar warning receiver, laser warning and Missile Approach Warning for threat detection plus a phased array radar jammer and a decoy dispenser for threat countering.
Thanks to the SPECTRA suite, the Rafale can operate in a high electronic jamming environment where the enemy radars are in a constant lookout for fighters. This is a proven system & had proven its worth during Rafale’s operation in the Middle east.
The Su-30MKI also has similar sub systems but there is no one to one comparison between the two. The Su-30MKI uses an Israeli Jammer, DRDO Tarang Radar warning receiver & similar mixture of equipment from different nations.
Carrying capacity:
Even after being a medium category aircraft, the Rafale carries more load than a Su-30MKI. The Rafale can carry almost 9.5 tons of external armament & fuel against 8 tons of Su-30MKI. The aircraft are seldom loaded in full capacity but this shows the thrust availability of the engines.
Also the Rafale is capable enough to perform nuclear strike & is one of the very few aircraft in our inventory to perform the aerial nuclear strike role. This is certainly welcome boost to the IAF as it reinforces the Nuclear Triad.
Availability:
According to the deal with Dassault, the company is responsible for maintenance & support of the aircraft in such a way that it is their responsibility to make at least 75% of the fleet available for flying at any given point of time throughout it’s service life.
I comparison, only 60% of the entire Su-30MKI fleet is ready for operations at any time. This is due to the radar which requires servicing every 150 hours of flight, the engines which requires overhaul at every 1000 hours & the titanium nozzle at every 500 hours. This increases the maintenance requirement of the Sukhoi fleet.
The Rafale’s fleet do not have these issues & most of the major servicing is carried out by Dassault which is another welcome boost for the IAF.
I think these points clear out as to why the Rafale is a “Game Changer” which brings a lot of boost to the capabilities of the IAF.
In my humble opinion, the IAF should go for 36 more Rafale & cancel the MRFA (aka MMRCA 2.0) deal. The follow on Rafale aircraft can use the same infrastructure, support equipment & training, thus reducing the costs & saving time.