The International Rafale forum

Well, i think we have problems with the OSF.

The TV channel works fine, but the IR channel doesn't look perfect.

If anyone has something about that, it would be interesting.

BTW is the IRST/FLIR sensor offered for export? Without any additional orders from France I could imagine that this sensor might be out of production?

Clearly, this is a point on which i lack documents to support some of my claims, but :

• the current OSF is considered "obsolete", which means that it's made of components out of production thus too costly or impossible to replace ;
• the current IR channel is very fragile and thus difficult to handle (unacceptable for a military equipment) ;
• pilots speak very little about it while they are reportedly very happy with the TV channel ;
• according to PolluxDeltaSeven (moderator here) who's in touch with some pilots, "you don't need the IR channel when you have 2 Mica IR", because the seeker can be used as an IRST...

The IR channel is out of production for sure. The question is when will a replacement be funded ? It should occur (according to Air & Cosmos) when a new technology will arrive on the market... The expected technology is a fixed matrix, removing the need for the mechanical steering...

Some time ago I read that the new OSF-IT might feature an IR channel as well, but I have no further info on this. Are there any images of the current F3 standard aircraft without the IR sensor?

Current F3 have no OSF at all.

In fact, we have :

• F2 with OSF (now being retrofitted in F3 -17 F2 remaining today) ;
• F3-O (obsolescence) with no OSF (neither TV nor IR) ;
• and by 2012, F3+ with OSF-IT (=OSF-IP) with only the TV channel.

After the OSF-IP (or IT), the next step will be the OSF-NG with the new technology for the IR channel. (source : Air & cosmos)

Thanks for the clarification. So hopefully a new version will be available soon enough to be part of potential export offers. Wasn't the OSF-IT supposed to be available by 2009? Or was it just the DDM-NG? Anyway I think those stuff will be part of the 4th batch.

Both systems should be fitted on Rafale by the end of 2009 (OSF-IT) or begining of 2010 (DDM-NG)... But only for testing.
They will be part of the fourth batch...

However, according to A&C, we're not gone to order 60 OSF-IT. Some of the F3+ won't have OSF at all.

I don't know if this drawing is accurate but it shows that the mica IR scaning is quite large with the advantage of being able to scan in 2 opposite directions at the same time.

But at what range can the Mica IR sensor detect a plane?

As it has been mentionned by Tmor, the next IR (OSF-NG) channel will be a big step compared to current generation. The last DSI hors série tells about quite "exotic" technologies (laser matrix etc) but they will be only available in the middle of the next decade.

Certainly the cost of this new IR channel should be compared to the operational gain. Today the operational gain is thought to be insufficient for the cost when you already have two mica IR seekers.

In one of the latest A&C they said that the OSF is very expensive and is about the same price of the radar. So the cost of modernizing both the TV and the IR channel was prohibitive.

@others : I read in A&C or somwhere else (DSI I think) that the current F3 batch will finally get the OSF-it. The argument made by the AdA was that the osf is eventually not an option as it modifies considerably the approach of a mission and the way it is performed. They argue that it is a must "have".