18:10 GMT, January 14, 2010 In just a few short months, Dassault Aviation configured the Rafale fighter to carry the Semac pod, enabling it to participate in the Red Flag exercise in the United States.

So that the French Air Force may participate in the Red Flag allied air forces exercise, slated at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, each aircraft participating has to be equipped with a system called ACMI, or Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation, an absolute prerequisite for flight safety during the exercise. For Dassault Aviation, this was a sterling opportunity to spotlight its expertise.


Semac, the French pod

The ACMI comprises a support rail, electronics racks and a receiving/transmitting antenna. It can replay the flight parameters, simulate the firing of air-to-air missiles, calculate hit probability and instantly transmit the results of the simulated shots to the pilots concerned and ground control teams. By centralizing the data transmitted by all aircraft participating in the exercise, organizers can monitor the tactical situation in real time and control it via a ground station. It also makes it easier to draw up reports on the exercise, using 3D displays during mission replay.

The French version of this pod, made by MBDA, is dubbed Semac (Système d’entraînement aux mission aériennes complexes), or “training system for complex airborne missions.” It is installed on one of the plane’s wingtips in place of one of the two Mica missiles. However, carrying different wingtip stores like this could have a significant impact on the Rafale’s flight envelope.


Fast paced testing

In early 2008, the Dassault Aviation design department in Saint-Cloud was asked to assess the impact of the new pod. While from the outside the pod just looks like a tube with antennas bristling from its nose, on the inside it can contain a number of different electronic kits – which means that its physical characteristics may be very different from those of a Mica missile.

Since the pod electronics kit used for Red Flag cannot leave American soil, the design department staff had to have full confidence in their models. This was achieved through multiple checks, based on calculations and tests by the missile-maker MBDA, then further ground and flight tests by Dassault Aviation using a pod that was as close to the actual configuration as possible.

In operation, the pod continuously transmits data on the aircraft’s tactical situation to ground stations. So the first task is to make sure that these transmissions do not create any interference with the aircraft’s own systems. Teams from the two manufacturers carried out functional tests at the Military Aviation Test Center (CEAM) to come up with an initial estimation of the pod’s impact on Rafale’s behavior.

Ground vibration tests and flight envelope opening tests were then performed to validate the models and calculation assumptions. Based on an analysis of tests and confidence in their models, Dassault Aviation collected all the information needed to justify flights using the pod.

By the end of July, Dassault had submitted this file to the authorities, and received flight authorization. In early August, four Rafale fighters with their Semac pods participated in the Red Flag 2008-04 exercise.