Description

At the end of the 1970s, the French armed forces expressed the need for a new multi-purpose fighter aircraft, which they planned to develop with West Germany, the UK, Spain and Italy. However, diverging requirements, in particular the ability to operate from an aircraft carrier, led France to break away from its partners in 1985. The Rafale A demonstrator flew on July 4, 1986, and the program was launched on January 26, 1988: the Rafale C single-seater flew on May 19, 1991, the M naval version on December 12 of the same year, and the B two-seater on April 30, 1993. The total cost of the program is 46.4 billion euros.

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The aircraft features delta wings and canard planes, fly-by-wire controls, passive and active stealth elements13 , an RBE2 electronically scanned array radar and two Snecma M88 engines. For air superiority, it uses air-to-air missiles and a cannon. For tactical bombardment, it uses laser-guided bombs, cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles and, for strategic bombardment, an ASMP-A nuclear missile.

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