Rafale vs Eurofighter
Dassault Rafale vs Eurofighter Typhoon
Comments of readers (Feel free to leave a reply on bottom)
1. With the advent of BVR and AAM……the dogfights have lost significance in air warfare. Eurofighter seems to have a bigger RCS (radar cross section)…..which is a disadvantage in era of missile warfare apart from early detection by radars
2. After considering all these facts, I do wonder that did India did take a wise decision by choosing Rafale over the Eurofighter Typhoon.
Also the deal between India and France has gone to another level of expense, which comes out to be more than the double of the initial amount. And when all this is going on, no one seems to be worried that the time is just getting wasted in finalizing the deal, when the India badly needs another air-superiority fighter to complement it’s Sukhoi 30 MKI fleets, in today’s scenario , when it is getting regular threats from it’s neighbors like Pakistan and China. Lets hope for the best.
3. The Eurofighter is primarly an air superiority fighter (with the option to fit for multirole purposes), while the Raphale in the original concept has a major focus in tactical support for ground forces (with the option to fit for dogfighting just in case).
This is due to the strategic situation of NATO countries during the cold war: Germany and Italy were directly exposed to a Soviet invasion thus requiring to struggle in the air against Russian fighters (particulary considering that without air superiority you can’t support your ground forces neither defend them against enemy strikes), while France was more covered and had a primary goal in supporting its forces deployed in Germany.
Besides, the Raphale is also designed for being embarked over carriers, while the Eurofighter is solely a ground based airplane.
4. Eurofighter is over… production will be stop before 2020 and now there are a lot of technicals problems…
5. The Rafale is a better bomber AND and a better dogfighter.
Even F-16 of F/A-18 have good chances to defeat typhoons in a moke fight.
Lies about the superiority of the Typhoon vanished when they had to face reality.
Typhoon stays a good interceptor and there is no surprise with that, it was designed for a such role.
6. I don’t know much (if anything) about the technical side of aeronautics, but from what I can see is that the only reason the Rafale was predicted the winner of a guns only WVR dogfight is because it has the bigger gun.
the EF has maneuverability and thrust-to-weight ratio advantage. meaning that it can get into position better than the Rafale, it is no good having the better gun if you don’t get a chance to shoot it.
7. The decision from the French to pull out of the EF project so as to build the Rafale may not be all that bad a move. Yes, the EF is a better jet, but the Rafale is cheaper to build and possibly maintain. Not to mention the significant industrial advantage the French get from going it alone.
8. As of 2014 everyone knows that Rafale is much more efficient than Typhoon which was humiliated in ATLC and Lybia by Rafale. Not even talking about upcoming Rafale F3R standard. Rafale weapons payload is 9.5 tons and its manoeuvrability and avionics are superior. Actually the only area where Typhoon is better is interception, cause it is a faster aircraft. But once dogfight begins, you better be in the Rafale.
9. When comparing these two European fighters, Eurofighter is a bit better, apparently thanks to a little more advanced avionics and technology, such as Euroradar CAPTOR Radar.
Although the Rafale can carry more weapons that are connected to the 14 points of connection (and even nuclear weapons), Eurofighter carries something better weapons, especially in the case of air-to-air missiles.
Rafale is armed with air-to-surface MBDA AM-39 Exocet anti-ship missile and MBDA CVS401-Perseus (in the future), while Eurofighter carries AGM-65 Maverick, AGM-88 HARM, Taurus KEPD 350, Storm Shadow / Scalp EG and Brimstone…
10. Rafale is better than typhoon in all areas and all confrontations year were fatal for the typhoon (atlp, solenzara etc … ) Dassault fighters are considered among the most efficient in the world in terms of combat even if they are not bigger. Rafale is a omnirole fighter from his conception, not the typhoon and the argument is to give more engine thrust or longer range radar is bogus because you must take into consideration all the other parameters, weight, radar syrface, weapon system, aerodynamics etc …Rafale is a must of fighter jet combat. He is more agile with only 15t of thrust, totaly omnirôle and combat proven, not the typhoon…
11. The lenghthy rebuttal ended with Eurofighter asserting that “throughout the exercise Typhoon was always carrying a greater payload than Rafale, Typhoon always came into the fight above Rafale and Typhoon take off performance was always more stunning than Rafale – all fully as expected.”Typhoon is more manoeuvrable, more technologically advance and faster. Therefore will be a better dogfighter. Rafale is however a better bomber.
12. Peter Collins stated Rafale as a “war-fighter par excellence”. He added that he deemed the Rafale to be the best and most complete combat aircraft that he had ever flown. He concluded in saying that if he had to go into combat, on any mission, against anyone, he would, without question, choose the Rafale.”
And it mentions also how rafale is superior in dogfighting (far superior actually)….
13. a) Energy: Additional kinetik and potential energy is an important advantage in a dog fight. The Typhoon can fly higher and faster than the Rafale.
b). In order to gain the energy advantage one must climb as high and as fast as possible at the beginning of a dogfight. The Typhoon climbs faster than the Rafale.
c). In order to outmaneuver the opponent one must accelerate and turn faster. The typhoon has a higher thrust/weight ratio, meaning it can accelerate faster. The Typhoon has a lower wing load 310 kg/m² vs. 322 kg/m². Additionally, the Typhoon is aeronautically more unstable than the Rafale. This means that the point of lift is further in front than the centre of mass. The plane is going to turn (pitch) faster than the Rafale. In order to counter this tendency, the canards are much further away from the centre of mass, in order to have a larger lever for pushing down the nose of the Typhoon in straight flight. The effect is that the Typhoon can permanently pull 9G turns supersonically, whereas the Rafale cannot. The only advantage of the Rafales canard configuration is that it can fly slower before stalling. But, this has little relevance in a dogfight, where you don’t want to be a sitting duck. This Rafale’s canard configuration was implemented, since a slow landing speed facilitates adapting the airplane to an aircraft carrier. But, it compromises the agility of the plane at high speeds.
Rafale vs Eurofighter Flight Cost Per Hour
Overall and BVR ratings
| CATEGORY | DASSAULT RAFALE | EUROFIGHTER TYPHOON |
| BVR Rating | 90% | 91% |
| Armament | 8.6/10 | 8.5/10 |
| Technology | 8.5/10 | 8.8/10 |
| Avionics | 8.4/10 | 8.6/10 |
| Maneuverability | 9.3/10 | 9.5/10 |
| Rate of Climb | max. 300 m/s – 60k ft/min | max. 315 m/s – 65k ft/min |
| Thrust/Weight | 1.13 | 1.15 |
| Service Ceiling | 17 km – 55k ft | 20 km – 65k ft |
| Speed | 2.00 Mach | 2.35 Mach |
| Fuel Economy | 0.70 km/l – 1.65 NM/gallon | 0.68 km/l – 1.60 NM/gallon |
| Unit Cost | 130.000.000 USD | 175.000.000 USD |
| Overall Rating | excellent | excellent |
BVR (Beyond Visual Range) Ratings
| CATEGORY | DASSAULT RAFALE | EUROFIGHTER TYPHOON |
| BVR AAM missile | MBDA Meteor | MBDA Meteor |
| AAM origin | NATO | NATO |
| Year | in 2013 | in 2013 |
| Range (mile) | 62 | 62 |
| Range (km) | 100 | 100 |
| Speed (mph) | 2640 | 2640 |
| Speed (km/h) | 4248 | 4248 |
| Radar | Thales RBE2-AA | Euroradar CAPTOR |
| Radar overall rating | excellent | excellent |
| BVR Technology | 85% | 87% |
| BVR Def. Tech. | 85% | 85% |
| RCS – Radar Cross Section | 0.5-2.0 | 0.5-2.0 |
Dogfight (close to medium range) Ratings
| CATEGORY | DASSAULT RAFALE | EUROFIGHTER TYPHOON |
| Cannon | GIAT 30M/719B | Mauser BK-27 |
| Caliber (mm) | 30 mm | 27 mm |
| Rate of Fire (rpm) | 2500 rpm | 1700 rpm |
| Muzzle Velocity | 1025 m/s | 1025 m/s |
| Size Point 10%-30% | 20% | 20% |
| Maneuverability | 9.3 | 9,5 |
| Thrust/Weight Ratio | 1,13 | 1,15 |
| AAM (first) | MBDA MICA | AIM-132 ASRAAM |
| Operational range | 0.2 – 50 km | 0.3 – 50 km |
| AAM (second) | R.550 MAGIC II | IRIS-T |
| Operational range | 0.3 – 15 km | 0.5 – 30 km |
| Dogfight Rating | 76% | 75% |
Size Comparison
| CATEGORY | DASSAULT RAFALE | EUROFIGHTER TYPHOON |
| Length | 15.27 m – 50 ft 1 in | 15.95 m – 52 ft 4 in |
| Wingspan | 10.80 m – 35 ft 4 in | 10.95 m – 35 ft 9 in |
| Wing area | 45.7 m² – 492 ft² | 51.2 m² (551 sq ft) |
| Height | 5.30 m – 17 ft 3 in | 5.30 m – 17 ft 3 in |
| Weight | 10,100 kg – 22,6k lb | 11,150 kg – 24,6k lb |
| Power | 2 x 75 kN – 17k lbf | 2 x 89 kN 20k lbf |