The thing that impressed me was the Maginot Line. I had a great time going up and down on the electric railway to the front line and seeing all the updates in ATGW and NBC equipment. The next time the Germans or the Ruskies come they'll be ready.
Just a pity about Belgium and the Low Countries.....
The problem with the Rafale is that it was designed to operate off the Foch and was, therefore, limited to about a 10 ton design weight. With no on carrier AAR and no decent national out of area AAR, it is severely limited in both range and payload.
Before anyone thinks I am just knocking the French, I was totally staggered to find out the F-35B spec has been changed to delete the wet wing wing pylon capability - obviously deliberately. Potentially putting the RN in the same position of having a carrier limited littoral range capability within threat range.
Frankly, I cannot see anything but a F-35C capable carrier with at least a a buddy-buddy tanker and a wet tank capability being acceptable for autonomous ops. But what do I know.