Article Posted on : - Apr 26, 2012

French Air Force Rafale. Photo: Dassault Aviation.

PARIS (BNS): France will upgrade the first ten Rafale Marine fighters from the current F1 standard to the latest F3 standard, an official of the French Defense Procurement Agency has said.

Christophe Carpentier, who is heading the DGA's 'Operation Retrofit F1-F3,' said the ten Rafale Marine aircraft delivered to the French Navy in the early 2000s were qualified only for air-to-air operations and for in-flight refueling.

"The retrofit operation will radically transform these aircraft, and give them the same operational capabilities as the latest Standard F3 aircraft, which are currently in production," defenseaerospace website quoted him as saying.

Specifically, this will translate into new operational capabilities and missions, which will include ground attack, reconnaissance, and the capability for nuclear strike, he said.

The stakeholders involved in the project include Dassault Aviation, MBDA, Thales, Sagem, and government agencies such as the aviation industrial service (SIAé), the Navy and the integrated structure for operational maintenance of defence ministry aviation equipment (SIMMAD).