It is as much a clone of the EFT as the AMX 30 is the leopard. France got what they needed out of both programs, both programs did not continue to meet French needs, they developed their own solutions from what they found useful in each program.
“Clone” is a very askew way to term it.
they were there long enough to get the valuable base. as far as I can tell the only major difference is the rafales are also naval aircraft.
its a split in the path more than a clone true. Its just very french to storm out of a joint project only to do basically the same thing and then claim its totally different because its french
France/Dassault had been making deltas for 50 years prior to the Rafale, and the Mirage 4000 which is a delta with moving canards (although not to the extent of Rafale/EFT) already existed prior to the two aircrafts.
Would make a lot more sense to call the Rafale a copy of the M4K and not EFT.
where and when?
Export success outside of Europe, the only thing that beats it is the US arms market.
Radar tech, from the start the Rafale was better
Arguably better ECM (though this is kinda hard to prove since it’s classified AF) (360° coverage for sure though)
Payload, the Rafale has it beat by about a ton
*On account of subsidising and expending long held stock that no longer serves to keep
Let’s just remember which particular exporter we’re talking about regarding what beats it.
Also should note that the Rafale A prototype for the Eurofighter program had been unveiled and flew before the EAP, so it doesn’t make any sense at all to say the Rafale is a copy of anything.
Yeah, I worded it dodgy, didn’t mean clone so much as things like m4k influenced France’s desire for a thing like Rafale. But my words failed me 😿
Phrogge :D
CAPTOR-E is the superior radar
Typhoon has an equal MAWS
Typhoon has at least equal EW
Typhoon has the better A2G loadout options with PW4s (10) and Brimstones (18) and soon Spear-3 (18) (isnt france planning to buy Spear-3 as well?)
PIRATE is equal or superior to the IRST on the Rafale
EFT has equal or superior sensor fusion with Striker II being the most advanced HMD in service currently.
ASRAAM is superior to MICA IR and both nations use METEOR (with Typhoon able to carry more missiles iirc)
You already admit its the superior airframe, so by that regard, Typhoon is at least equal if not superior in every respect except for range, which the Rafale does beat it on, but other than that. The Rafale is the inferior aircraft.
Different doctrine. Use cases, they’re more or less equal.
Supposedly the manufacturer can configure Rafale to carry a very similar figure regarding AAMs.
shouldnt be too hard to make british ordinance run on a dassault rafale. NATO standardisation probably makes implementing them on aircraft a simple process
Yeah, just doesn’t fit French doctrine most of what you lot use, outside of brimstones. Don’t think France is acquiring any of the versions of this though?
Yeah, SPEAR 3 planned for UAI integration no?
Like what though? France uses GBU’s, cruise missiles, and Meteors on the Rafale like the UK does on Typhoons
Anyone bug report the fact that if you use the DAMOCLES TGP, you lose the ability to use the OSF?
I’ve long used TGP’s in sim for their ability to quietly ID and track targets from range, and the mix of the DAMOCLES + OSF would provide a rather significant increase in area the optical sensors could be used to look for and track targets.
the french use the AASM Hammer.
Sure there are some differences. But the majority of it overlaps
Yes, it is a deliberate choice by the developers because they had apparently faced the same issue with the Harrier GR7 where bugs occurred when trying to use two different optics even though sources state both can be used at the same time.
Rafale is not capable of utilizing two different optical sensors // Gaijin.net // Issues
The AAMs overlap, sometimes (1).
The air to ground has some overlap (2?), most notably for the 2k strike platforms (4?).
But for the most part, France prefers the AASM hammer as it aligns with how they use the platforms.