French Air Force Takes Delivery Of AESA Radar Equipped Rafale Jets

France’s Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA) has taken delivery of the first Rafale fighter jet fitted with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar from Thales. Current Rafale models are fitted with a passive array radar and the new improvement is seen as a effort to target markets abroad. “The Rafale is the first European combat aircraft in service to benefit from AESA technology, which has been the subject of studies and previous demonstrators, and which is the fruit of more than 10 years of [research and development] effort in active arrays,” the DGA said in a statement. The new Rafale jet, registered C137, is due to be handed over to the French Air Force and will be based at Mont de Marsan air base. The Rafale is also equipped with an improved missile launch detector and a new generation front sector optronic sensor, the DGA said. The new radar allows the Rafale to use the Meteor long range air-to-air missile, offers greater reliability and lower support costs, and is harder to jam, Dassault Aviation and Thales said in a joint statement.