A French Air and Space Force Rafale F3R fighter jet with Al Tariq Mk81 and Mk82 precision guided bombs in the foreground (Breaking Defense)
DUBAI AIRSHOW — The United Arab Emirates’ largest defense conglomerate plans to equip the nation’s new Rafale F4 fighter jets with a subsidiary’s precision-guided munitions, in what would be a first for the French-made jet.
Three different munitions — the Mk81, Mk82 and longer-range Mk83 bombs that EDGE subsidiary Al Tariq modifies into precision-guided missiles — will all be integrated on the fourth generation plane in due course, according to Al Tariq CEO Theunis Botha.
“The entire family of Al Tariq is being integrated onto all the Rafale fleet to the UAE,” he told Breaking Defense, fulfilling a requirement by the Emirati air force for indigenous weapons to be fitted to the combat jet.
“We are in discussions with them to team for this integration and contracts are already in place,” added Botha. “The first Rafale aircraft will be delivered around 2027, and we would be in time to have the integration completed by that time.”
He also said he “hopes” Al Tariq and Dassault, the French firm that makes the Rafale family of fighter jets, can reach agreement on approval for other Rafale users to equip their respective fleets with Al Tariq weapons.
The Al Tariq precision-guided versions of the Mk81 and Mk82 munitions were both displayed beside a French Air and Space Force Rafale FR3 aircraft at Al Maktoum International Airport this week. Al Tariq’s modular precision guidance system fits on the Mk80 series, turning their short-range munitions into Al Tariq-S and the long-range ones Al-Tariq-LR missiles.
The UAE’s air force already carries the two munitions on Mirage 2000-9 and F-16E/F fighter jets.
The Emirates is set to become the first F4 operator outside of France, with delivery of 80 aircraft originally scheduled to run from 2026 to 2031 in a deal worth an eye-watering $19 billion. Botha’s remark about deliveries starting in 2027 suggests this initial timeline may be a bit off track.
France announced the order from Abu Dhabi in December 2021, which remains Dassault’s largest ever. But for the UAE, the acquisition also signaled a committed effort to modernize strike capabilities, set against the threat of Iran and its regional proxies.
At the time of the UAE’s Rafale F4 order, it appeared that the deal could end the Gulf nation’s interest in acquiring 50 Lockheed Martin F-35 fifth generation fighter jets and 18 General Atomics MQ-9 UAVs, air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions, as part of a $23.3 billion package offered by the US. That deal was halted, in part, because of Washington’s concern over the UAE’s use of Chinese telecom tech, but a US official told Breaking Defense recently the F-35s and the MQ-9s are still “on the table.”
Meanwhile, France is pressing on with the F4 upgrade, which it refers to as a “trilogy” because Dassault will work through three distinct blocks of work — 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 — to complete it. Block 4.1 includes integration of Safran’s 1000-kilogram (2,200lb) Armement Air-Sol Modulaire (AASM) precision-guided bomb, new Thales RBE2 active electronically scanned array radar capabilities, Thales’ Talios targeting pod and Scorpion head mounted display.
France’s DGA procurement agency announced qualification of the 4.1 standard in March 2023, while first deliveries of the aircraft in this new configuration were also made to the French Air and Space Force in the same month. Details of Block 4.2 and 4.3 are limited, but Dassault has started modification work of a first 4.2 standard prototype at company facilities in Istres, with future 4.3 retrofit work set to be potentially offloaded by the manufacturer to France’s Aeronautical industrial workshop/Atelier Industriel Aéronautique (AIA), according to Aviation Week.
The trade publication also reported that Paris plans on spending €1.38 billion ($1.47 billion) on the F4 upgrade between 2024 and 2026, though the official launch of block 4.2 won’t happen until 2025, a one year delay.
Closer to home, Saudi Arabia could join the UAE in placing a Rafale order after French defense minister Sebastien Lecornu revealed last month that talks are underway between the two countries, though he didn’t elaborate further. The Paris-based business title La Tribune said that Saudi Arabia has specifically requested Dassault provide it with a “costed proposal” for 54 aircraft.
UAE Missiles Pitched For Indian Fighters
The F4 also isn’t the only foreign jet that could carry high-tech Emirati weapons.
Walking down the static display at Dubai Airshow, India’s HAL Tejas fighter jet is exhibited also equipped Al Tariq precision guided munitions, in hopes of convincing the Indian military to give it a shot after testing.
“This will be a limited integration,” Botha told Breaking Defense, “but serving the purpose of demonstrating the capabilities of one the aircraft integration between the two companies and the performance of the alternate weapon system.”
Botha told Breaking Defense that the testing in India is expected to take place in early 2024, “and we hope to have it completed by third quarter of 2024.”
According to the company official, there are also discussions with a number of air forces around the Middle East region to add Al Tariq weapons to their planes.
“There are number of aircraft lined up for integration of Al Tariq and we are busy with discussions with the respective manufacturers from around the globe,” Botha concluded.
This report was updated 11/16/2023 at 07:37am ET to clarify that Al Tariq modifies the Mk80 series of bombs into precision guided munition.
