F-35 Lightning II vs Dassault Rafale

CdeG is back at sea with RAFALE M - some nice photos out there (one with a possible 30? onboard) meanwhile APPROACH:

Anyone would think that only the french have GaN

https://breakingdefense.com/2016/09/pla ... m-nitride/
Lockheed Martin, is already exporting ground-based GaN radars (AN/TPS-77s) to Romania and Latvia. Last year, Lockheed got contracts to build GaN radars for the Space Fence project tracking orbital hazards and to build a GaN Long-Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR) for the Missile Defense Agency.

As for Raytheon, besides upgrading AN/TPY-2, the company is using GaN in the Air & Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) on the future Flight III upgrade of the Navy’s Arleigh Burke destroyers. It’s also offering a GaN radar upgrade for the famous and widely exported Patriot missile defense system.

And lets not forget Northrop Grumman with the TPS-80 G/ATOR.

Dassault has done some cold weather testing in Finland at the end of January:
https://theaviationgeekclub.com/dassaul ... n-finland/

The weather has not been the coldest it could've been, but it was roughly between -10° to -26°Celsius during the visit in Rovaniemi.

According to FiAF this has nothing to do with Finnish fighter acquisition (HX) program and that Dassault did their own testing and FiAF just provided some basic support. AFAIK, this testing was done because it has been fairly long time since Dassault has done such testing and new equipment and systems has made testing necessary.

FR Air Force & Navy Air Warfare Centers (CEAM & CEPA) performed operational tests of METEOR.
https://www.defense.gouv.fr/english/sal ... -nationale

Is it known how many Rafale already have a AESA Radar ( F3 Standart). I know they are upgrading older Rafale, at least the M version.

Legal findings on the India Rafale deal showing rules broken.

https://indianexpress.com/article/opini ... r-5587518/

https://www.livelaw.in/columns/cag-find ... ict-142971

One thing is sure, Dassault did everything it could to avoid working with HAL considering their almost criminal lack of expertise.

Charles De Gaulle ‘PHOTEX’ 30 Rafale Marine from 11F, 12F and 17F squadrons Feb 2019 https://www.navalnews.com/news/2019/02/ ... de-gaulle/

RAFALE Armée de l’Air QRA AirForces Monthly Magazine Feb 2019

She is a real looker... The French build gorgeous fighters. Mirage 4000 was my favorite but alas, it never went anywhere. The Rafale IMO is the premier carrier based fighter (at least until the F-35C gets here). Would not want to be in a SH with AMRAAM vs. Rafale vs. Meteor, that's for sure...

She is a real looker...

Here I agree.

The Rafale IMO is the premier carrier based fighter (at least until the F-35C gets here).

Here not so much. I have absolutely no doubts that the "premier carrier based fighter" is the F-35C! It may still not achieved IOC (but it's very, very close to it) but and nevertheless it's still currently combat capable and carrier deployable as many tests already proven.
As a second place, I would say that such place is well disputed between the Rafale and Super Hornet (SH).

Would not want to be in a SH with AMRAAM vs. Rafale vs. Meteor, that's for sure...

In case you're right in that particular case, this would basically be the merit of the missile (Meteor) alone and not the aircraft, per se.
And to be honest I'm not sure if I agree with you, since a SH loaded up with AIM-120D's is a fighter aircraft to be reckoned with! Moreover and on top of that, the Super Hornet's radar (APG-79) should have a longer detection range versus the Rafale's RBE2 AA and the Super Hornet can also carry more air-to-air missiles compared to the Rafale - and this are very important advantages that the SH would have over the Rafale.
And I never cease to admire this Super Hornet capability:


And note that the 2xAMRAAMs in the fuselage stations are missing, which would bring a total of 14 (fourteen!) air-to-air missiles (12xAMRAAMs plus 2XAIM-9s)

Fair point on how many AMRAAM's she can carry. Albeit in that photo, are not the two outboard most wing stations carrying Sparrows? I wasn't aware we still had them in the inventory. When I saw such a loadout years ago on an F-15, I asked the pilot why bother? He said, "bigger warhead"...

It's an interesting matchup. The Rafale is the better energy fighter, the SH has nose pointing authority. Both have great radar's, although I'll concede the SH's AESA (now) is better. Both have RCS reduction measures built it. Rafale I believe has the better legs. But yes I think the Meteor is the deciding factor, along with SPECTRA etc..

Are USN SH's now flying with the AIM-120D? I see most loaded with AIM-120C-7's..

Better legs?
Given the same combat load => Flying formation, the Rafale pilot is the one going swimming first.

Better legs?
Given the same combat load => Flying formation, the Rafale pilot is the one going swimming first.

Lollll

Better legs?
Given the same combat load => Flying formation, the Rafale pilot is the one going swimming first.

Lollll

AIM/120d < Météor. Aesa rbe2= Apg 79