France’s Dassault Rafale Fighter Has a Message for the F-35 Fighter

Key Points: France’s Dassault Rafale fighter, after overcoming early engine development delays, is achieving significant export success, particularly within Europe where previous Dassault jets struggled against US competitors.

-Recent sales to Croatia, Serbia, and Greece (a second order) challenge the narrative of F-35 dominance on the continent.

-This breakthrough is credited to Dassault’s persistent marketing efforts and a growing preference among some European nations for the operational autonomy perceived with the Rafale, contrasting with concerns about US control over F-35 usage and upgrades.

-The continuously evolving Rafale, including the advanced F5 variant, offers a capable multi-role alternative.

The Dassault Rafale Fighter

When the French Dassault Rafale multirole fighter first appeared as a demonstrator aircraft more than 35 years ago, problems delayed the program for several years.

The most pronounced of these was the difficulty SNECMA, the French national aero engine consortium, had with developing the M-88 engine.

Delays in deliveries of that powerplant forced the company to use two American-made GE F404 engines (used in the McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18A/B and C/D models) to power the demonstrator aircraft for much of its flight test program.

It was not until 1991 that it flew regularly with the French engine.

After a slow start, the aircraft has progressed through several avionics and software updates, with the F5 “Super Rafale” configuration being the most up-to-date version. The F5 variant features an uprated, higher-thrust engine, an integrated and cleared ASN4G hypersonic nuclear missile, an advanced variant of the Thales RBE2 XG Active Electronically Scanning Array (AESA) radar, and improved survivability and data links.

Like almost all modern fighters, the Rafale F5 is also planned to be complemented by “Loyal Wingman” unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAV), usually referred to in the US as “Collaborative Combat Aircraft.” These vehicles are designed to weigh no more than ten metric tons (9.8 long tons; 11 short tons).

The French Armed Forces plan to operate the Rafale until 2040. It will then be replaced by a 6th-generation combat aircraft designed in cooperation with European partners, although the structure of Dassault’s participation in that program presently remains undefined.

Export Success of Dassault Rafale

Despite being a European defense firm, the market on the continent has been the least successful for Dassault Aviation for decades. By way of example and looking at sales of the previous designs from the French firm, the Mirage III was acquired only by Spain and Switzerland, the Mirage V solely by Belgium, the Mirage F1 by Spain, and later the Mirage 2000 only by Greece.

(That “no Europe” curse for the Mirage 2000 was broken with the decision to supply Ukraine with the Mirage 2000-5F aircraft delivered to Ukraine in February 2025.)

Dassault Rafale Artist Image. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Dassault Rafale. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Dassault Rafale. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Rafale has seemed destined to be trapped in this same “closed box” for years now. The sad news is that 15 of the 21 air forces with fighter aviation on the continent have selected the F-35. Even Greece, which had been the only European two-time buyer of Dassault aircraft, announced an order for 20 F-35 aircraft.

Speaking to a Dassault representative around 20 years ago, he told me that the company saw the future for Rafale sales in “markets where countries could either not purchase the F-35 because they could not afford it or the US would not offer it to them.”

That equation has made Asia and Latin America the largest potential markets for Rafale for the past ten years—and into the next ten—only. As a testament, India ordered 36 Rafales in 2016, and Indonesia 42 aircraft in 2022.

The Seal Broken

After the Mirage F1 and the Mirage 2000 for Greece became the only sales in Europe, the Hellenic Air Force’s follow-on procurement of 24 Rafales was thought to be a “one-off” and not to be repeated on the continent.

Despite all the predictions based on conventional wisdom that this would be the only sale of the aircraft to any European nation, Rafale nonetheless managed to win in Croatia against the Gripen and F-16V, resulting in an order for 12 aircraft.

Following this win, Serbia also decided to acquire 12 aircraft, as announced by President Vucic in April 2024. This decision was made public during the French president’s official visit to the country.

Shortly thereafter, Greece announced its intention to acquire a second squadron of Rafale or 12 additional units. The seal on the supposed inability of the French aircraft to sell anywhere in Europe was now broken.

Looking at the aircraft’s more recent successes, this is “not unexpected,” said one of Paris’s most experienced defense analysts and publisher of a well-known industry newsletter.

He explained that two factors have made Rafale able to make sales both outside and inside the European market.

“Outside of Europe, Dassault are like the proverbial American Timex watch. They ‘never stop ticking,’ they never stop working a market until the sale is closed,” he said. “It is the classic example of persistence can win out in the end.”

“But what had made the difference in Europe has been the dichotomy of ‘either do it our way or get out of the way’ orientation of the US Government. There have been too many examples of how Washington can control what you can do with an F-35, what you are allowed to buy with it, what weapons you will be allowed to buy, etc.”

“The customers out there can see more freedom associated with having the French aircraft in your air force than with a US aircraft. And that has allowed Rafale to carry the day on more than one occasion.”

About the Author: Reuben F. Johnson 

Reuben F. Johnson is a survivor of the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and is an Expert on Foreign Military Affairs with the Fundacja im. Kazimierza Pułaskiego in Warsaw. He has been a consultant to the Pentagon, several NATO governments and the Australian government in the fields of defense technology and weapon systems design.  Over the past 30 years he has resided in and reported from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Brazil, the People’s Republic of China and Australia.