On June 3, French defense procurement agency DGA officially took delivery of the Rafale C102, the first single-seat Rafale fighter for the air force. Currently being tested by the CEAM military flight test center, this aircraft has been on display since Monday on the Dassault Aviation stand at the Paris Air Show.

The French air force is gradually ramping up its deployment of the Rafale multirole fighter. By the fall of 2006, they want to have a first squadron of about 20 planes in operation at the Saint-Dizier air force base.

Any new aircraft naturally involves writing instructions and tactical operations manuals, plus pilot and mechanic training. These tasks are the responsibility of CEAM (Centre d’Expériences Aériennes Militaires), the military flight test center at the Mont de Marsan base in southwest France. Gearing up for service entry, CEAM now deploys five Rafales, including four twin-seaters and a single-seat version, number C102. These planes are being used for pilot training of course, as well as to train mechanics, who are experiencing the Rafale revolution down on the ground. Powered by twin Snecma M88-2 engines, the Rafale features an innovative maintenance and logistic support concept.

CEAM’s ground crews began preparations a full 18 months before the first Rafale landed at Mont de Marsan. At the time, the maintenance team had 40 people. All of them had spent three weeks at the Landivisiau naval air base with the 12F squadron to benefit from experience with the aircraft’s carrier-borne counterpart, the Rafale M.

Engine test stand no longer needed

The Rafale tech crew at CEAM, now familiar with the aircraft, has a three-pronged mission: they support flight testing at the center, test the maintenance procedures to be applied by armed forces, and train the mechanics from Saint-Dizier to make sure they’ll be ready when their aircraft arrive.

One of the greatest surprises for these seasoned mechanics was the absence of a regular engine test stand: a simple checkout stand is enough to “spin up” the M88-2 and make sure it’s operating correctly following any servicing. The engine is then installed back in the aircraft and systems are checked via the integrated maintenance software, by a mechanic in the cockpit. These streamlined support procedures and the engine’s highly modular design mean that it will be easy to project M88-2 technical support to far-flung theaters of operation.

Another revolution in the making is integrated maintenance, which means that the aging of engine components is no longer tracked according to hours of flight in general, but in light of the specific conditions during each mission: changes in engine speed, temperature, altitude, etc. This should further improve dispatch reliability, which already seems to be excellent.

SAFRAN companies’ role on the Rafale
- Snecma :M88-2 engines
- Hispano-Suiza:complete control and power transmission system for the M88-2, accessory gearbox and flex drive shaft.
- Snecma Propulsion Solide: module for the M88-2 nozzle, secondary flaps of ceramic matrix composites.
- Messier-Dowty: landing systems.
- Messier-Bugatti: wheels and brakes, brake-by-wire braking control system, nosewheel steering system, landing gear extension/retraction system, hydraulic generation system, brake temperature monitoring system.
- Labinal: electrical wiring systems.
- Sagem Défense Sécurité:hybrid GPS/inertial navigation system, OSF infrared frontal imaging system, Samir missile warning detector, Gerfaut helmet-mounted display, gyros for the fly-by-wire controls, mission planning, weapons control units.
- Sofrance: filters for the main hydraulic circuit and fuel circuit, and air filters for the avionics suite.
- Technofan: equipment for the air conditioning system.