Optronique secteur frontal



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.

Visible waveband capability is included to identify targets in situations where visual contact is required by the rules of engagement.

The benefits in air-air confrontation are:
 * passive long-distance detection
 * target identification before engagement