But how many BVR missiles can they carry? Asraam and IRIS-T aren’t really BVR like the MICAs.
Eurofighter can carry six BVRs; usually four Meteor and two AIM-120 + two IRIS-T / ASRAAM. Rafale F.4.1 is on par with that; four Meteor, four MICA.
What I see here is 6 BVR missiles for Eurofighter but 8 BVR missiles for Rafale.
Do note that Diehl states 10km range and 5km altitude for IRIS-T when surface launched. In comparison, MICA does 20km range and 11km altitude, more than double in range and that’s the big advantage.
It’ll carry less missiles, weigh less, get to altitude faster and higher, while still retaining more BVR capability.
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But how many BVR missiles can they carry?
Meteor is a BVR missile. The Rafale carries 4 Meteors at max, the Typhoon carries in a standard air-superiority loadout 6, or in a QRA 4.
Asraam and IRIS-T aren’t really BVR like the MICAs.
IRIS-T you are correct. ASRAAM you are not. The range of a Block 3 ASRAAM is 50km, the current Block 6 ASRAAM is supposed to improve on this. The newest MICA derivative boasts 60KM-80KM of range. So we can assume ASRAAM has something similar.
The Typhoon can carry Meteors on every single pylon it can carry AMRAAM which would bar the central pylon and the outboard pylons. The Typhoon also has dual pylons for Meteor and ASRAAM whilst never used the concept suggests 14 Meteor missiles in carriage, with 2 ASRAAM/IRIS-T which can be upped to 4.
The Rafale has a maximum of 8 AAM’s.
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What I see here is 6 BVR missiles for Eurofighter but 8 BVR missiles for Rafale.
It’ll carry less missiles, weigh less, get to altitude faster and higher, while still retaining more BVR capability.
I am confused is it carrying 8 missiles or 6?
Its well known the Eurofighter can go from runway to 30,000ft in 30 seconds which is not something the Rafale can do, in addition the Eurofighter has a higher service ceiling leading to extended range of the Meteor and ASRAAM. Eurofighter also now has a better radar than the Rafale on every aircraft of Tranche 2 standard or higher in Anglo-German service as was already established previously in this thread.
It is much better to know what the range of ASRAAM is when it is surface launched at 0 ground speed than to take air to air range which is subject to speed and altitude of launch aircraft which we don’t know of.
Rafale LF.1: six missiles (two Magic, four MICA EM)
Rafale F.1 → F.3R: six missiles (though the modification has been available since 2015)
Rafale F.4.1 → F.X.Y: eight missiles
8 missiles for late* Rafale, plus, do note that by the time we see Rafale F.4 in-game, MICA NG will be in service in 2026. And that itself is a 40km surface launched missile or a 130km ranged missile when air to air as cited by Air and Cosmos.
I honestly do not think this is a difficult task to achieve.
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It is much better to know what the range of ASRAAM is when it is surface launched at 0 ground speed
If we are comparing Rafale and Eurofighter both of which are great aircraft then why wouldn’t we use the fact that the Eurofighter enables better ballistics by flying higher and faster…
But if you insist ASRAAM actually wins that competition, a vertically launched MICA has a range of 20KM compared to that of the air-defence ASRAAM sent to Ukraine which is said to have a 15 mile range which is just under 25KM.
Unfortunately they won’t add the MICA NG so the best we can get is 4 top tier fox 3s and 2-4 medium to short range AAMs. I’m not convinced these missiles will stand up to AIM 120C-7 or whatever the R77/R37 modifications are. No only will France be near the bottom in missile volume, but also near the bottom in missile range. Yes the MICA will “hopefully” be very competitive, but with so few chances for a kill it’s always going to be an uphill struggle to remain competitive.
I got your point i meant the fella replying to you who said that the Rafale was better because it had more BVR missiles and then said it would do better if it carried less in the same paragraph
That depends on the timeline of when Rafale F.4 is in the game. Not sure why you think it wouldn’t come with it if its in the game by 2026.
I’m not convinced this game will still be here in 2026 lol
I’m betting that the sleeper pick for french enjoyers will be the “real” 2000-5F. 6 MICAs at a lower BR with, hopefully, the first generation of widespread fox 3s as your main opponents will make that plane a monster. I have a feeling it will be in the BR sweet spot.
I mean, they manage to give Russia some equipment that is still in its testing phase (2S38 cough cough), so I don’t see why they would not do that with the MICA NG, since we already have public informations on what has been improved compared to the original MICA. If Gaijing decide they can indeed model the MICA in game, there is absolutely no reason they could not do it with the NG imo
I don’t want to clutter this thread with too many arguments, so at the end of the day, we’ll have to wait and see who is right.
which is 2 less than a British Eurofighter in a standard air superiority config.
We don’t have that yet, plus at that time we will also have the CAMM-MR missile using an ASRAAM seeker and an upgraded missile body which is slated to reach 110-160KM range.
The Rafale isn’t bad by any means but comparing it to a Typhoon in air superiority doesn’t stack up well at all. If Gaijin adds the MICA NG (which i have no problem with) then they might as well give the Typhoon its full complement of 10 Meteors and 2 ASRAAM and thats without Beast-Mode, which increases that to 14 meteor and 4 ASRAAM given that the dual carriage pylons do exist.
I just wanna clear this up, I by no means dislike the Rafale, it is a fantastic aircraft, but it is both advantaged and limited by France’s domestic only attitude. Its carrier capable which is incredible and retains great flight performance, but the aircraft is not designed to compete in air superiority like Typhoon. The Rafale was designed to be multirole, the Typhoon had to be upgraded to fill that capacity.
For sure dude, I am glad we can appreciate that both are two incredible examples of European engineering
The problem with MICA NG; it will enter service with F.4.2 standard, which is not a thing yet and wont be for a few more years. The current plan is to upgarde the entire Rafale fleet to one standard again (the most recent one being F.4.1), before Super Rafale F.5 enters service. F.4 is also the end of the line for all older airframes, only newer and newly built ones will be later upgraded to F.5 and up.
By the time MICA NG enters service, there likely wont be anymore pre-F.4 in service, with high probability only F.3Rs.