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LONDON—The proliferation of sensors in the battlefield will erode the value of stealth and put a premium on the ability to fly at low levels and high speed, the head of the French strategic air forces says.
The evolving situation will put a spotlight on how pilots fly their aircraft for survivability, Gen. Stéphane Virem told the Global Air and Space Conference here. “We are convinced that the very low flight with very big speed is really the future,” he said.
France uses its Rafale fighters to deliver the ASMPA nuclear cruise missile for its airborne deterrent; that weapon is to be replaced by the hypersonic MBDA ASN4G in 2035.
A key issue is for crews to train for all aspects of the mission, including flying as low as 150 ft. at 500 kt. to be able to avoid being brought down by enemy air defenses, Virem said. “It’s not an easy job because if you stop training these low-level profiles, it will take a lot of years to come back to this capability.”
The training aspect has become somewhat more difficult because crew are no longer used only for nuclear missions and must also be able to perform other roles, he said. Virem noted, for instance, that some of his crew were deployed to the United Arab Emirates in recent months and were used to hunt and down Iranian drones.
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