Dassault Rafale
The Dassault Rafale is a French-built multirole fighter designed to operate from both land bases and aircraft carriers, with a reinforced undercarriage and arrestor hook for carrier landings. Its delta wing and canards, similar in concept to the Eurofighter's, give it high agility across a wide speed range. Unlike the Eurofighter or Tornado, France developed the Rafale entirely on its own rather than as part of a multinational program. It has since been exported to several countries and used operationally in conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa.
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Did you know?
France developed the delta-canard Rafale entirely on its own, unlike the multinational Eurofighter, and built it strong enough for carrier landings.
Specifications
| Length | 15.3 m (50 ft) |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 10.9 m (36 ft) |
| Height | 5.3 m (18 ft) |
| Persons on board | 2 |
| Crew | 1 |
| Maximum take-off weight | 24.4 t |
| Range | 2,000 NM (3,704 km) |
| Maximum speed | 1,030 kt (1,908 km/h) |
| Service ceiling | 50,000 ft (15,240 m) |
| Rate of climb | 60,000 ft/min (304.8 m/s) |
| Take-off distance | 400 m (1,312 ft) |
| Landing distance | 450 m (1,476 ft) |
| Fuel capacity | 4,500 l |
| Engines | 2x Snecma M88 |
| Units built | 316 |
Curated by CatchFlights from manufacturer documents, ICAO Doc 8643 and reference works; values are left out where no source could confirm them. Sources are listed on our credits page.
In CatchFlights
In CatchFlights the Dassault Rafale starts as a Rare catch. The tier is an editorial judgement of how special a sighting of this type is. The more often you catch it, the closer it moves to Common for you.
A catch counts for the manufacturer Dassault, the Rafale family and the model in your collection, and the daily Type Rating quiz asks about the types of each family.
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