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BAE Systems, Dassault and France advance F-35 and Rafale electronic warfare: fleet-scale EW upgrades, Rafale counter-drone laser

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BAE Systems outlined how it plans to maintain, upgrade and scale electronic warfare (EW) capabilities across the global F-35 fleet. In parallel, France completed Rafale laser-guided rocket firing trials for counter-drone roles and is progressing Rafale–UAV cooperative missions for SEAD/DEAD, including EW data-sharing using Namib payloads ahead of future F5 collaborative capabilities.

Discovered 2026-07-13T00:59:04.741227-07:00 | 2026-07-13T00:59:04.741227-07:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

  • These updates show how EW is being operationalized across multiple fleets—BAE’s F-35 scaling plan alongside Dassault’s Rafale–UAV cooperative SEAD/DEAD demonstrations—shaping near-term capabilities and sustainment demand.
  • France’s completion of laser-guided counter-drone rocket trials for Rafale ties EW and kinetic effects together, indicating an integrated pathway from trials to operational readiness.
  • The Rafale cooperative mission work—using Namib to locate air-defense radars and pass data to the aircraft—signals the direction of collaborative combat aircraft architectures (now) and future F5 EW networking (next).

Reported By

aviationnews.eu FlightGlobal Air Data News Aviacionline Seeking Alpha air-cosmos.latribune.fr
Sources Tracked
26
First Seen
2026-07-13T00:59:04.741227-07:00
Latest Update
2026-07-13T15:16:08.647163-07:00
Coverage
Defense

Sources

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