Rafale

The Rafale is a French twin-engine delta multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation.

The project was originally meant to replace England's and Germany's F-4 Phantom in 1977, but because of divergences on some specifications (France wanted SNECMA M88 reactors, England wanted Rolls-Royce RB199 and Germany wanted to use General Electric F404 motors), Dassault decides to withdraw from this project and to design its own multirole fighter. The original project conducted to the Eurofighter Typhoon, whose perfomances are often considered lesser especially in ground attack.

Rafale caracteristics

• Wingspan: 10.72 m
• Length: 14.98 m
• Height: 5.10 m
• Wings surface: 44 m²
• Weight unladen: 8.6 tons
• Fuel weight: 7 tons
• Weight at takeoff: 20.3 tons
• Motorization: Snecma M88, postcombustion thrust: 7 500 kgp.
• Cruising speed: Mach 2
• Max distance: 1800 Km
• Takeoff distance: 400 m
• Ascentional speed: 325 m/s
• First flight: May, 19th 1991