The Optronique Secteur Frontal (OSF) [literally: Frontal Sector Optronics] 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)
- ground or sea targets (up to 6 km)
- On the right, a TV/IR sensor is used for target identification (40 km range) and includes a laser rangefinder. [1]
Visible waveband capability is included to identify targets in situations where visual indentification is required by the rules of engagement. [2]
The benefits in air-to-air scenarios are:
- Passive long-range detection
- Target identification before engagement
