Thales Spectra

The Thales SPECTRA ("Système de Protection et d'Évitement des Conduites de Tir du Rafale", Self-Protection Equipment Countering Threats to Rafale Aircraft) is an integrated defensive aids suite developed by Thales Group for the Dassault Rafale series of fighter aircraft.

All elements of the Thales SPECTRA system are built into the airframe, and have high levels of automation and system integration. SPECTRA includes radar detectors, laser warning receivers and infrared missile approach warning. Active elements of the system include chaff and flare dispensers, and radio frequency jamming. SPECTRA also has ELINT functions, for recording and analysing the characteristics of hostile emitters and their locations.

Thales Group and Dassault Aviation have mentioned stealthy jamming modes for the SPECTRA system, to reduce the aircraft's apparent radar signature. It is not known exactly how these work or even if the capability is fully operational, but it may employ active cancellation technology, such as has been tested by Thales and MBDA. Active cancellation is supposed to work by sampling and analysing incoming radar and feeding it back to the hostile emitter out of phase thus cancelling out the returning radar echo.

Future upgrades of the system will include the ability to datalink several Rafales together, sharing SPECTRA data among various units of a fighter group.

See also

* "Dassault Neuron"