Entirely white, the first Falcon F8X “Archangel” bearing the tricolor roundel, was recently spotted at Bordeaux-Mérignac airport. Photos of the device were posted on social networks. It would have been “a few months” that he had been going out one after the other, according to military specialists.
But what is the Archangel? Acronym for “New generation payload intelligence aircraft”, this is the program of the future French airborne electronic intelligence platform, which will equip the Air and Space Force (AAE).
Late delivery
This program involves the transformation of three Dassault Aviation Falcon 8X business jets into electronic intelligence platforms. The first test flight of this program was announced on July 25 by the Directorate General of Armament (DGA), with a delay since the first aircraft was to be delivered to the “Dunkerque” squadron at Evreux air base 105 (Eure) in 2025, to succeed the two Transall C-160 Gabriels of the Air Force.
“We had an unpleasant surprise from industrialists who were unable to keep the timetable to which they had committed”, explained General Fabien Mandon, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces (CEMA), during a hearing in the Senate, recalls the specialist site Zone Military. “The difficulty is to fit an electronic computing bay into an aircraft which has limited space,” he added.
Collect and analyze strategic information
The Archange program aims to deliver three aircraft capable of detecting and analyzing radar and communication signals by the end of the 2024-2030 Military Programming Law. “They will be used by the Air and Space Force and will contribute to France’s capacity to collect and analyze strategic information,” assures the DGA. They will thus make it possible to assess an adversary’s forces and adapt electronic countermeasures accordingly, or to disseminate warning intelligence to as many actors as possible, particularly in the context of collaborative combat.
To do this, they will be equipped with the Thales Cuge (Universal Electronic Warfare Charge) system, “which is based on innovative technologies and very high-level sensors guaranteeing optimal performance,” continues the DGA.
Our file on the Air Force
The Archangel program was notified to Dassault and Thales in 2019 and involves several dozen French companies. “Military Falcons are the perfect illustration of Dassault Aviation’s dual skills: our civil aircraft benefit from cutting-edge technologies developed for our combat aircraft which in return benefit from the industrial processes implemented for the production of Falcons,” underlines Éric Trappier, CEO of Dassault.
