Rafale Marine F5 and naval combat drones, the French Navy will enter the 6th generation in 2035

France will therefore develop, alongside the land versions of the Rafale F5 and its combat drone, a Rafale Marine F5 and a naval version of its combat drone, to replace the oldest Rafale M, at the end of its potential, as well as only to provide the Embarked Air Group with a 6th generation capability, certainly ahead of the phase of other major Western navies.

This is, in any case, what the deputy of the Defense committee, Franck Giletti, indicated in his recent report on the evolution of French air power. This announcement, all in all expected and without any real surprise, is part of a major effort undertaken by the French Navy and the Ministry of the Armed Forces, to adapt military naval power to new geopolitical and naval technological realities, which have been developing very rapidly for several years. .

What will be the advantages of this new capacity for the French Embarked Air Group? Is it adapted to future needs and new threats? And how will the French Navy evolve, to respond to the multiplication of theaters of engagement, and the acceleration of the military technological pace?

12 Rafale Marine F5 and naval combat drones to arm French aircraft carriers by 2035

On the sidelines of the Euronaval 2024 show, the Ministry of the Armed Forces indicated, in its communication, that the Air Group on board the nuclear aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle would also have the new Rafale F5 standard, as well as its combat drone. .

The information was surprising. Indeed, until now, the French authorities had systematically refused to mention the possibility of a new order for Rafale M, even to replace the oldest and most worn aircraft, with an environment and conditions of use very strenuous for the cells of the devices.

At the same time, all the information concerning the new F5 standard indicated that it would only be backward compatible from the native F4.2 standard, already an optical fiber cable, leading to a divergence in development in future versions. of the Rafale, mentioned in several articles on this site.

In fact, there was little other alternative, for the French Navy, than to confirm the next order of Rafale Marine F5, both to carry the on-board nuclear component with the arrival of the new generation supersonic missile ASN4G, successor of the ASMPA-R, only to control new combat drones, also developed simultaneously in land and on-board naval versions, such as the Rafale.

We now know that 12 of these aircraft should be ordered as part of the 6th tranche of Rafale intended for the French air forces, for deliveries which should take place shortly after 2030.

Will the French Navy be the first to have a 6th generation naval aviation in the West?

The arrival of the Rafale Marine F5 and its combat drone within the French naval air forces will certainly cause certain capacity and structural upheavals. Thus, the format of 12 aircraft seems to correspond perfectly to the creation of a fourth embarked fighter flotilla, specialized for the implementation of these new capabilities, as is the case of the 12F flotilla, specialized in air defense. .

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