In just under a decade, a century after its creation, the Air and Space Force (AAE) will begin a historic change. Without waiting for the Scaf (air combat system of the future), the pilots of the fifth generation Rafale will be accompanied from 2033 by a combat drone that they will pilot from the cockpit of their plane. A true leap into the future of combat aircraft.
This new version of the Rafale will fly until the 2060s. It represents a true technological revolution for the Air and Space Force with a connected cyber combat aircraft. This device will be equipped with sensors and will navigate with accompanying drones, on the ground, in flight and in space.
These Dassault Aviation innovations were announced by Sébastien Lecornu, Minister of the Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs, in the presence of General Jérôme Bellanger, Chief of Staff of the Air and Space Force (AAE), and Éric Trappier, Director General from Dassault Aviation. It was presented on October 8, during the ceremony celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Strategic Air Forces (FAS), at the 113th air base in Saint-Dizier.
The choice of this place and this day is also explained by an important innovation in the field of air deterrence. The Rafale F5 will carry a new nuclear weapon, the ASN4G (Fourth Generation Air-Ground Nuclear) missile. This hypersonic missile should enter service in 2035 to replace the medium-range air-to-ground missile (ASMP).
A stealthy drone
To create this drone, Dassault did not start from a blank page. It benefits from the work carried out within the framework of the nEUROn program started in 2003. This unmanned combat aircraft system (Ucav) remains the first European demonstrator of a stealth combat drone. Six European countries (France, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Greece and Switzerland) contributed to its design under the project leadership of Dassault Aviation.
The first flight of the technological demonstrator took place in 2012 and in 2015, the DGA (General Directorate of Armament) carried out a shot from the hold. Dassault quietly continued this work. As of December 2022, nEUROn had more than 170 flights.
For its new version, this drone will be “adapted to collaborative combat,” says Dassault, specifying that “it will incorporate autonomous and stealthy control technologies.”
The new missile will be operational in 2035
The fourth generation nuclear missile is the other pillar of the Rafale F5. Little information has been published since the first works related to this program dating back to the 1990s. It should be operational in 2035 and be compatible not only with the Rafale F5, but also with the new generation aircraft carrier (PaNG). This ship currently being prepared will take over from the Charles-de-Gaulle in 2040.
In 2023, during a parliamentary hearing, Admiral (2S) Hervé de Bonnaventure, defense advisor to the CEO of the missile company MBDA, provided details about this top-secret program. It confirmed the choice of hyperspeed technology and the complexity of stealth.
He added that “the very high performance in speed and maneuver is the best method to achieve detection as late as possible, complicate the tracking task of a radar, or even undertake and disorganize an attack with an anti-missile missile.”
Over the next decade, armies will be thoroughly modernized with expensive programs funded in part by the Military Programming Law (LPM) 2024-2030. Its amount is 413 billion euros for this period.
This budget will finance, in particular, the launches of the Scaf, the new aircraft carrier, the fourth generation nuclear missile submarine and the army tank of the future.
New missiles are also being prepared, such as the Aster 30 B1 NT tested on Tuesday in Biscarrosse. Designed to intercept hypersonic missiles, it will equip the new generation SAMP-T surface-to-air defense systems that will enter service in 2026.
Source: BFM TV
