In most people's minds, the dragon fighter, a light fighter whose maximum take-off weight is less than the air weight of the American F35 fighter, is unlikely to be able to beat the French Rafale fighter. However, it turns out that the combat effectiveness of the Dragon fighter is greatly underestimated, and the combat effectiveness of the French Rafale fighter is overestimated!
Rafale fighter introduced from India
According to the Middle East News Network, in June 2021, in Turkey's "Anatolian Eagle-2021" air joint exercise, the Pakistani Dragon fighter jet defeated the two-seat French Rafale fighter purchased by Qatar 6:2.
According to the media, the Pakistan Air Force sent to participate in the military exercise is the Dragon Block 2 fighter, against the newly delivered Qatari Air Force soon after the French Rafale fighter, in the middle and close range of three rounds of confrontation, the Dragon with a record of 6:2 to achieve an overwhelming victory.
This result is really unexpected by most people!
The Ming Dragon Block2 fighter has no advantage over the French Rafale fighter, why is this happening?
According to the parameter comparison, whether it is the radar system or the thrust-to-weight ratio of the whole machine, the Dragon Fighter has no advantage over the French Rafale fighter! However, after the actual confrontation, it was possible to defeat the French Rafale fighters.
This is mainly because good weapons must also be able to be used. Such a large score advantage can only show that the Dragon fighter is small in size, but the combat effectiveness cannot be underestimated, and it does not mean that the combat effectiveness of the Rafale fighter is very poor, or it may be because the Qatar Air Force pilots are not familiar with the recently delivered Rafale fighter and cannot play its advantages.
Although the theoretical parameters of the Dragon Block2 fighter are not better than those of the French Rafale fighter, the Pakistani Block 3 fighter that has just come off the production line is a fierce character!
Dragon BLOCK3 fighter
According to Pakistani officials, in addition to being equipped with a more advanced avionics system, the Dragon BLOCK3 fighter will also replace the improved engine with stronger thrust.
1. The airborne fire control radar was upgraded from KLJ-7 Doppler radar to KLJ-7A active phased array radar, and the avionics system was on par with the J-20.
The advantages of active phased array radar over Doppler radar are all-round, and interested can learn about it yourself. This change directly made the fire control radar performance of the Dragon Block3 fighter surpass the French Rafale fighter in one fell swoop!
This is because the nose diameter of the Dragon fighter reaches 600 mm, while the French Rafale fighter has a nose diameter of only 550 mm. Therefore, the KLJ-7A active phased array radar used by the Dragon Block3 fighter is larger than the RBE2 active phased array radar used by the French Rafale fighter. In addition, the KLJ-7A active phased array radar has integrated T/R components for gallium nitride components ahead of the RBE2 active phased array radar's gallium arsenide generation. These two advantages directly give the KLJ-7A active phased array radar a comprehensive lead over the RBE2 active phased array radar.
Two different models of KLJ-7A active phased array radar
This means that the radar detection distance of the Dragon Block3 fighter will greatly exceed that of the French Rafale fighter, and the advantage is obvious in the over-the-horizon combat, which greatly makes up for the shortcomings of the Dragon Block 2 fighter.
In terms of cockpit display, thanks to the huge progress of China's electronic technology, China has equipped the Dragon Block3 fighter with a larger polygonal full-frame diffraction flat display (HUD) and an integrated cockpit display, similar to the screen display of the J-20 fighter. In addition, the Dragon Block 3 fighter is also equipped with an advanced omnidirectional infrared missile warning system. At present, our army's J-10C, J-16, and J-20 three new fighters are equipped with this advanced infrared alarm system.
Such a huge improvement and upgrade directly upgraded the Dragon Block3 from the original quasi-third-generation aircraft to the fourth-and-a-half generation fighter, and the avionics system surpassed the French Rafale fighter in one fell swoop.
2, the engine from the original RD-93 upgraded to RD-93MA, thrust increased by 1 ton, if necessary, can also be replaced by China's turbofan 13E.
Prior to this, the Dragon Block2 fighter used a Russian-made RD-93 turbofan engine with a thrust of 8.3 tons, and now the Dragon Block3 fighter is replaced by a Russian RD-93MA turbofan engine with a thrust of 9.3 tons. Of course, if Pakistan is willing, china can also replace it with a turbofan 13E, which is said to have a thrust of 9.5 tons, but the price may be more expensive.
The green module on the fighter body of the Dragon Block3 is composite
Although the Dragon Block3 has fully upgraded the avionics system, the on-board equipment may be heavier, but at the same time, the Dragon Fighter has also upgraded the body material, greatly increasing the amount of composite materials, the weight reduction effect is obvious, it is expected that the air weight of the upgraded Dragon Block3 fighter will not increase, and may even decrease slightly! Therefore, the Dragon Block3 fighter will have stronger maneuverability and a larger bomb load!
It is reported that the maximum take-off weight of the Dragon Block3 fighter will be increased from the original 12.7 tons to 13.3 tons, and its whole thrust-to-weight ratio is basically the same as that of the French Rafale fighter, and even slightly dominant.
It can be seen that after a comprehensive upgrade, the Dragon Block3 fighter has been called a rebirth! The Dragon Fighter, which was originally inferior in over-the-horizon combat, was transformed into a four-and-a-half-generation fighter that was even better than the Rafale fighter!
Since the Dragon Block3 fighter can suppress the French Rafale fighter imported by India in terms of air combat, why does Pakistan still need to import the J-10C fighter from China?
The main reason is that the Dragon Block3 fighter is too small!
Due to its small size, even if the Dragon fighter is strong, it only has a slight advantage over the French Rafale fighter in terms of air combat duels, and is at an overall disadvantage in terms of endurance and multi-purpose. If you can't make a quick decision, the Dragon Block3 fighter will be very easy to be killed by the French Rafale fighter. If the Indian pilots grasp this point and try their best to deal with the Pakistani Dragon Block 3 fighter in actual combat, the final Dragon Block 3 fighter is likely to be exhausted and killed.
This is also the main reason why Pakistan eventually had to import from china the J-10C, which is about the size of a French Rafale fighter.
Previously, a number of military experts and many senior military fans have explained through the performance of the J-10C military exercise, the comparison of performance parameters, etc., that the J-10C pure air superiority aircraft has an overwhelming advantage in air combat compared with the French Rafale multi-functional fighter, and if you are interested, you can search for it yourself.
歼10C
Although the J-10C is a single-engine fighter, a turbofan 10B has a thrust of 144 kN, which is basically equivalent to the two M88-2s of the French Rafale fighter (150 kN), and if necessary, it can be replaced with a turbofan 10C with a thrust of more than 150 kN. This makes it possible for the J-10C, which was originally superior in avionics systems, to suppress French Rafale fighters in all directions.
Since the French Rafale fighters are not so good, why does India still have to spend a lot of money to buy them?
It is understood that the total cost of introducing 36 Rafale fighters in India is as high as 7.87 billion euros, which is equivalent to 9 billion US dollars in US dollars, and the unit price is as high as 250 million US dollars, which is the most expensive medium-sized fighter in history.
In fact, Indians are not stupid. The introduction of Indian Rafale fighters is only a small node in the upgrading of its air force equipment, and in the future, India will also introduce fighters with more powerful performance than French Rafale fighters. Recently, for example, India has begun planning to procure more advanced warplanes.
It is understood that India has introduced a Rafale M fighter that can act as a carrier-based aircraft and a small number of two-seaters, that is, Rafale B fighters, rather than land-based Rafale C fighters.
Rafale M fighter
Personal speculation is that the logic of the Indians is that in the short term, the Rafale M can be used as a land-based fighter to suppress pakistan's existing types of fighters, and once Pakistan introduces more advanced land-based fighters, such as the J-10C, then these Rafale fighters can also be converted into India's aircraft carrier-based aircraft.
As a land-based fighter, the French Rafale M fighter is indeed not strong enough in air combat, but as a carrier-based aircraft, the Rafale M is small and compact, coupled with its powerful multi-purpose performance, it will also put unprecedented pressure on the Pakistan Navy in terms of ground-to-sea attacks.
In addition, indians spend a lot of money to introduce Rafale fighters Another purpose is to learn French fighter manufacturing technology, this 7.87 billion US dollars also includes production line costs, in the future India intends to produce Rafale fighters in the country, which will greatly enhance India's fighter development capabilities. From this point of view, this sky-high transaction cannot be said to be a wrongdoer.