Dassault Rafale

Rafale
A French Air Force Dassault Rafale B at RIAT in 2009
Role	Multirole fighter Type of aircraft
National origin	France
Manufacturer	Dassault Aviation
First flight	Rafale A demo: 4 July 1986 (1986-07-04) Rafale C: 19 May 1991 (1991-05-19)
Introduction	18 May 2001 (2001-05-18)[1]
Status	In service
Primary users	French Air and Space Force French Navy Egyptian Air Force Indian Air Force
Produced	1986–present
Number built	259 as of 2023[update][2]

The Dassault Rafale (French pronunciation: [ʁafal], literally meaning "gust of wind",^[3] or "burst of fire" in a more military sense)^[4] is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Equipped with a wide range of weapons, the Rafale is intended to perform air supremacy, interdiction, aerial reconnaissance, ground support, in-depth strike, anti-ship strike and nuclear deterrence missions. It is referred to as an "omnirole" 4.5th generation aircraft by Dassault.

In the late 1970s, the French Air Force and French Navy sought to replace and consolidate their existing fleets of aircraft. In order to reduce development costs and boost prospective sales, France entered into an arrangement with the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain to produce an agile multi-purpose "Future European Fighter Aircraft" (which would become the Eurofighter Typhoon). Subsequent disagreements over workshare and differing requirements led France to pursue its own development programme. Dassault built a technology demonstrator that first flew in July 1986 as part of an eight-year flight-test programme, paving the way for approval of the project.

The Rafale is distinct from other European fighters of its era in that it is almost entirely built by one country, involving most of France's major defence contractors, such as Dassault, Thales and Safran. Many of the aircraft's avionics and features, such as direct voice input, the RBE2 AA active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and the optronique secteur frontal infra-red search and track (IRST) sensor, were domestically developed and produced for the Rafale programme. Originally scheduled to enter service in 1996, the Rafale suffered significant delays due to post-Cold War budget cuts and changes in priorities. There are three main variants: Rafale C single-seat land-based version, Rafale B twin-seat land-based version, and Rafale M single-seat carrier-based version.

Introduced in 2001, the Rafale is being produced for both the French Air Force and for carrier-based operations in the French Navy.^[1] It has been marketed for export to several countries, and was selected for purchase by the Egyptian Air Force, the Indian Air Force, the Indian Navy, the Qatar Air Force, the Hellenic Air Force, the Croatian Air Force, the Indonesian Air Force and the United Arab Emirates Air Force. The Rafale is considered one of the most advanced and capable warplanes in the world,^[5] and among the most successful internationally.^[6] It has been used in combat over Afghanistan, Libya, Mali, Iraq and Syria.