Rafale

Now that is a Raptor killer.

France competition for the Typhoon.

France was invited to jointly develope the Typhoon under Eurofighter GmbH, but they declined, prefering instead to develope their own multi-role fighter. Unlike the Eurofighter Typhoon, Dassault markets its Rafale under the 'omni-role' title, giving the impression that the plane is good at all roles. Eurofighter, in comparison, markets it's Typhoon under the 'strike' title.

The Eurofighter project has been subject to several operational evaluations. These have been carried out, independently from the Eurofighter consortium, primarily by Britain's DERA, the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (now split into QinetiQ and DSTL). Unlike many previous theoretical operational capability studies, the Eurofighter analysis utilised a true simulation approach. This was achieved through a number of networked battle simulation computers, termed JOUST, each of which can be flown by human pilots.

BVR Combat Rating
91% F22

82% EF2000

50% Rafale

43% F15

25% F18

21% F16

100% always win 50% one for one 0% always loose

I've been flying Mirages for about 4 years and i would love to get my hands on this machine. It's a pity they have not resolved some of the flight control issues and that the French Air Force have halved their order for the Rafale. The biggest pity is that my country, South Africa, did not consider this as an option for our new Combat Aircraft. Safe Flying, Shark