Completely slicked off with no external stores or targeting pods, a Rafale would likely have a lower frontal RCS compared to a Typhoon, but in practice neither would be combat effective in this configuration. It is said that the Rafale would have an advantage in a dogfight below 10K feet and a Typhoon above, would you agree with this?
In within-visual range combat, both Typhoon and Rafale would likely destroy each other in the merge in a 1v1 or 2v2. Between 15, and around 30,ft the relative merits will depend on speed range, as if the Typhoon might start with an advantage in a supersonic merge but Rafale would improve relatively as speeds drop during a long engagement.
In practice it would depend on pilot experience and skill to fly their aircraft at best corner speed and manage their energy and position to best effect. Typhoon is designed to excel in acceleration, climb rate and supersonic performance and agility at high altitudes for maximum beyond visual range capability. Rafale is designed to excel at subsonic speeds and at lower altitudes.
With heavy loads, however, Rafale performs significantly better than Typhoon across the almost the entire performance envelope, having been designed from the outset to incorporate heavy multirole loads. The Aerodynamic Modification Kit AMK developed by Eurofighter would address these limitations and greatly improve the instantaneous turn rate and agility at all speeds with heavy loads, but so far no operator has bought it — suggesting they are broadly satisfied with the aircraft as is.
Typhoon is happiest at 50,ft and above. Depends on altitude and speed. As above, the higher the speed and altitude of an engagement, the better Typhoon performs relative to Rafale and vice versa.
In terms of instantaneous turn rate, Rafale has a slight advantage in air combat configuration and that increases with heavier multirole or strike loads.
Both fighters will pull 9G all day long in air combat configuration at most altitudes. In terms of energy regeneration, Typhoon has the edge by dint of a higher specific excess power. However, Typhoon also uses a lot more fuel in afterburner so for mission profiles that involve a lot of AB use, Rafale will likely have the edge. In practice, both types depend to a large degree on tanker support for most operational missions.
Support Hush-Kit with our high quality aviation themed merchandise here. The flip side is that both AMRAAM variants have advanced off-board guidance capabilities to allow passive engagements in cooperation with another aircraft in active mode. US development efforts have emphasised these cooperative engagement capabilities CEC far more than French ones over the past two decades, and Typhoon benefits from that weapon heritage.
Both are devastating revolver cannons with selectable rates of fire. The GIAT has the advantage in maximum possible firing rate of rpm vs rpm although in practice both would likely fire at comparable rates for both air-to-air or air-to-ground use to make best use of very limited ammunition rounds for Rafale, for Typhoon.
As revolver cannons, both reach their maximum fire rate almost immediately. The BK27 has slightly better muzzle velocity and ballistic properties whilst the GIAT has slightly better destructive effect due to its larger shell. In practice, there is little to choose between them, I pity the enemy shot at by either.
The drawback is extremely high munitions cost. The Damocles pod has an advantage over Sniper and Lightning III in that it features an integral datalink capability to transfer reconnaissance and target data directly to other stations such as those found on French Air Force tankers.
Brimstone is more accurate with a much smaller ultra-low collateral warhead. Top WVR fighter aircraft here. Germany has cleared its Taurus KEPD cruise missile but since German politicians do not believe that Air Forces should be used to kill people, its capabilities remain untested in combat. However, to have a decent probability of kill against modern long range air defence radars, these missiles require accurate real time target location data.
This is because modern SAM systems such as the S and HQ-9 are highly mobile and have such long range that a subsonic cruise missile launched from a safe distance would take tens of minutes to arrive.
I think that is now enabled. Both can use third party target data to launch Meteor without active radar scanning by the launch aircraft, and both can hand off guidance in flight to other friendly assets. How frequently is Meteor actually carried in ? Tranche 2 and 3 Typhoons regularly carry Meteor on live operational sorties with European users, although the Tranche 1s do not use the missile which is why the RAF purchased the latest AIMD for its remaining Tranche 1s.
How many Meteors are carried on a single-aircraft in everyday service? If it was a priority to up the Meteor carriage on Rafale to four, I expect that could be done at the cost of MICA numbers on the centre underwing station. Both Rafale F3R and P3E standard Centurion upgraded Typhoons present pilots with an intuitive combined situational awareness display which integrates data from multiple sensors. In that sense, both feature sensor fusion and represent a significant upgrade compared to legacy aircraft and previous Rafale and Typhoon standards.
Defensive aids SPECTRA has a better reputation primarily because of Libya in a result of French political ambition and risk tolerance, alongside technical capability. Typhoon comes with one or two TRDs mounted in a wingtip pod as standard, with specific version dependent on operator choices. The leaked Swiss evaluation rated Rafale superior in almost every category- would this still be the case? The Swiss competition was horrendously mismanaged by the Eurofighter consortium with a buggy Tranche 1 jet sent to compete with the best that Saab and Dassault could bring to the table.
However, in terms of radar, the Rafale would still come out ahead due to its mature RBE2. However, an RAF standard Tranche 3 Typhoon would likely come out ahead on BVR performance, interceptor missions due to extreme rate of climb and performance , ESM, terminal countermeasures and low-collateral strike capabilities. Shame about the whole referendum thing for the Swiss Air Force.
How has Typhoon improved since your assessment? The fact that Kuwaiti Typhoons are already flying with the export AESA is a welcome but long overdue improvement but Typhoon really continues to lag in terms of exploitation of its huge potential given the massive nose aperture and power available in the AESA department.
Top 10 BVR fighters of The integration of the Meteor missile for the F3R standard Rafales has plugged a major weakness of the type in my assessments — the lack of a serious BVR stick.
This means that the Rafale will continue to improve, especially in the EW and sensor fusion department throughout the s. Interview with a Rafale pilot here.
What is the best Rafale variant today and why? The Indian standard does feature some impressive additions including additional podded electronic warfare capabilities and TRD, whilst the Qatari standard features the new HMD.
Both include the RBE2 although it is likely to be an export standard that is slightly de-tuned compared to French aircraft. Highly experienced crews, full DAS and radar capabilities without export restrictions and a nuclear missile capability.
Rafale has had some impressive success on the export market since , with the combination of RBE2 radar, combat record in Libya and aggressive French state support for marketing efforts contributing to success in Egypt, Qatar and Greece as well as India.
Typhoon has had successes in Qatar and Kuwait, and a signature of intent from Saudi Arabia for another 48 aircraft soon. Which aircraft would fare better against the Flanker family and other aircraft likely to be flown by near-peer competitors such as the Chinese J family?
After all, Typhoon and Rafale were not built to fight each other, and will not do so. Their job is to deter and if necessary provide overmatch against the latest hostile fighter types. In this role, the Typhoon is probably the standout with its superior BVR capabilities in a large scale, open ROE engagement, but up close in a flashpoint around a QRA interception Rafale might have the edge. In a complex battlespace with dense ground based as well as aerial threats, both Typhoon and Rafale are formidable assets but would rely on support from dedicated penetrating and stand-off assets to minimise risk and truly perform at their best.
Typhoon versus Su here. Pre-order your copy now right h ere. From the cocaine, blood and flying scarves of World War One dogfighting to the dark arts of modern air combat, here is an enthralling ode to these brutally exciting killing machines. The Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes is a beautifully designed, highly visual, collection of the best articles from the fascinating world of military aviation —hand-picked from the highly acclaimed Hush-kit online magazine and mixed with a heavy punch of new exclusive material.
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Thank you very much. I am surprised the Typhoons new Digital Stealth was not mentioned, it seems to be a world leading capability on Typhoon to counter, if not surpass the lack of static stealth in the air-frame. Curious on what he bases his comments on instantaneous and sustained turn rate. The Typhoon also is more maneuverable than the Rafale thanks to its aerodynamically unstable design and delta-canards. The Rafale is already in active duty with the French Navy while the Typhoon on the other hand is yet to do so although a plan for the development of a naval Typhoon is underway.
India plans to buy aircraft from the company for the coming ten years. Sources say that the process of lowest bidder has been completed, Rafale emerged winner against the European Eurofighter Typhoon. According to the deal 18 aircraft will be directly bought from Dassault Aviation and the rest aircraft will be manufactured in India with partnership with Indian companies.
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