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Archimedes, perfect abstract it seems
A balanced conclusion, too
Originally Posted by
Archimedes
the answer that both are damned good aircraft, with some flaws and some outstanding qualities, and that it's a bit hard to make an outright decision as to which is better at this stage in their careers will be submerged in the above and go entirely un-noticed.
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airborne_artist, may I suggest to use a modified droppable fuel tank for your golf clubs ? Both aircraft do carry such tanks.
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Geehovah
I'm struggling here but IIRC, the reason the French left the project was that they wanted a 9 ton aircraft and Eurofighter was well in excess of a 10 ton "girth".
(...)
That said, I have no knowledge of how Rafale turned out. Typhoon wasn't a bad compromise in the end.
It indeed was one of the reasons. One other reason (and this being as important as the weight issue, if not more) was the A2G importance as noted by keesje.
(...)
Rafale turned out well, according to its users. Not an export success so far, but clearly multirole by now (just in time for Libyan ops), and slightly ahead of Typhoon on that particular aspect.
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Trim Stab
They also realised that a two seat version was better in dedicated ground attack role.
Well, on a side note on this :
- the
EC 1/7 Provence squadron, first AdlA unit on the Rafale, now(*) flies with single pilot on board (even in Rafale Bs) for A2A, A2G, Recce roles.
- the
12.F (naval squadron) only uses Rafale Ms (carrier version - single seater), and does A2G amongst many other roles (A2A, Refuel, Recce, Nuke)
- on the other hand, the
EB 1/91 Gascogne uses only two seaters Rafale Bs with a pilot and a WSO according to the AdlA rules for its main role (nuclear deterence).
(*) i.e. since a separate & dedicated OCU, ETR 2/92 Aquitaine, was created.
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Jollygreengiant64
Rafale does indeed look better IMO. Mais bon, les goûts et les couleurs !!
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barnstormer1968
The first user of the Rafale was the Marine Nationale:
- first two aircrafts (Rafale M - F1 i.e. A2A role only) delivered in december 2000
- 10th aircraft (last F1) delivered in october 2002
- FOC on Rafale F1 in june 2004
- first Rafale M - F2 (limited multirole) delivered in may 2006
- FOC on Rafale F2 in may 2008
As for the Armée de l'Air:
- deliveries begun in late 2004, directly on the F2 standart
- FOC on Rafale F2 in june 2006
All F2s have (MN & AdlA) have now been upgraded to the F3 (full multirole) standart. F1s are stored, awaiting upgrade.
Cheers
AZR