Has modern equipment eliminated or reduced this phenomena?
A very reasonable post, Dan.
I fly with the latest radar units, dual installations, pulse Doppler capability, lightning detection, vertical slicing of the target, and so forth. With a cell of sufficient size and water content, however, such as those present in a well-developed line along the ITCZ, attenuation is inevitable, at least as far as I know. The tell-tale radar shadow behind the scan is a place most of us fear to tread.
In our experience, a thorough weather brief from a competent dispatcher, an appropriately cautious flight plan routing, even at the cost of precious extra fuel, plus the very recent addition of an in-cockpit internet connection that provides us near real-time satellite and radar composite snaps of severe weather areas, has proven most effective where avoidance becomes key.
That is not to say Air France does not have this already in place. One can only speculate at this point.