The front hemisphere of the OSF is visible above the nose cone, beside the refuelling probe.The Optronique Secteur Frontal (OSF) is a long-range optoelectronics system, developed for the French Dassault Rafale combat aircraft.
It allows target tracking through IRST (infrared search and track) and visual sensors:
- on the left, the main IR detector can be used as forward-looking infrared (FLIR) (to send a video signal to the pilot), or to detect:
- air targets (at ranges up to 100 km)
- surface or sea targets (up to 6 km)
- on the right, a TV/IR sensor us used for target identification (40 km range) and includes a laser rangefinder.[1]
Visible waveband capability is included to identify targets in situations where visual contact is required by the rules of engagement.[2]
The benefits in air-air confrontation are:
- passive long-distance detection
- target identification before engagement
References
- ^ "L'optronique secteur frontal (L'OSF)". www.aviation-francaise.com.
- ^ Dassault Aviation Smart and discrete sensors
