The Rafale is a fourth-generation 'Omni Role' fighter aircraft, capable of carrying out a wide range of missions. Dassault uses 'Omni Role' as a marketing term to differentiate the aircraft from other 'multi-role' fighters, like the Eurofighter, Joint Strike Fighter and the JAS-39 Gripen.
In the mid 1970s European nations, and in particular the French Air Force and Navy required a new generation of fighters to counter the Soviet threat.
Dispite the collapse of the Soviet Union the French forces still need more advanced fighters to replace there old Mirages.
The Rafale is now being produced for the French Air Force, and the Rafale M for the Navy, which can withstand the rough carrier landings.
The Rafale is produced in three variants - M, B and C; the single-seat M version for the Navy, Rafale B is a two-seat version for the Air Force, and the C variant, a single-seat fighter for the Air Force.
The "Rafale A" technology demonstrator was build in 1984-1985 and performed its first flight on 4 July 1986. It retired in 1994, with prototypes for operational Rafales taking its place in the flight test program.
First flight of a production Rafale, an M variant, was in July 1999, it landed on the new French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle
Initial service deliveries of the Rafale M were in December 2001, with the first Aeronavale Rafale M squadron fully operational, on the Charles DeE Gaulle aircraft carrier, in the summer of 2002. As with the EuroFighter, the Rafale is going into service in a phased fashion:
All F1 and F2 standard Rafales will be brought up to F3 standard in the course of scheduled high-level maintenance.
The Navy expects to receive its first F3-standard full multirole single-seat Rafale M in 2007. All 60 Navy fighters are expected to be delivered by 2012.
The Rafale is powered by two SNECMA M88-2 turbofans which have a dry thrust of 11,000 pounds and 17,000 afterburning each. In order to further reduce fuel consumption and increase the service life of the engine's critical parts (high-pressure core and afterburner), SNECMA has developed a new version of the M88-2, called the M88-2E4. This new version offers improved fuel consumption (2 to 4 % lower than the M88-2E1). As of 2005 all M-88 engines deployed in France comply with this new standard.
| Version | Rafale |
| Manufacturer | Dassault |
| Country | France |
| Type | Multi-role Fighter |
| Powerplant | SNECMA M88 turbofan engine (2x) |
| Thrust | 11,000 lbs 5,100kg 50 kN (17,000 lbs 7,645 kg 75kN with afterburner) |
| Length | 33.8ft 15,27m |
| Height | 17,4ft 5,34m |
| Wingspan | 35.4ft 10,80m |
| Weight | 19,975 lbs 9,060kg |
| Speed | 1,325 mph 2,130kph Mach 1.8+ 1,150kts |
| Ceiling | 55,000 ft 18,000m |
| Crew | One (2 in Rafale B and N) |
| Unit cost | 91 m euro's (1997) $66.5 million |
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