Rafale
Dassault Aviation and the French Armed Forces’ Aircraft Maintenance Division (DMAé) have agreed to implement the Donecle’s AirScan artificial intelligence (AI) drone inspection service for Rafale aircraft.
Donecle says the AirScan service was made possible by its collaboration with Dassault via their technical expertise and software solutions. Over the past five years, Donecle and Dassault have tested the use of AirScan for airframe inspections on the Rafale, the Atlantique 2 and the Falcon family.
“Our duty as defense contractors is to support our armed forces. The vertical agreements underpinning these life cycle contracts are based on the principles of a single prime contractor, comprehensive services and a long service life,” says Bruno Chevalier, Dassault senior executive vice president, Military Customer Support.
An initial agreement signed in 2020 allowed the DMAé to develop and test the service through its “F4 Standard” modernization program under the supervision of the French Defense Procurement Agency (DGA). Throughout the program, the drones were used on a trial basis on multiple air and naval bases.
The new contract will deliver about 10 drone kits to various Rafale bases and the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier—a world first for at-sea aircraft inspections.
“We need to modernize our resources if we are to meet this commitment, and it is essential that we bring our capacity for innovation to our armed forces,” Chevalier says. “This first contract for the AirScan service on the Rafale paves the way for the modernization of resources and services deployed on other Dassault Aviation aircraft, whether civil or military.”
