Talk:Dassault Rafale

Looking to expand the design overview seciton

Hey guys, I was looking to expand the design overview section which was very brief and didn't go over things like the interesting use of flaperons or advanced materials used. Seems we are on protected edits, can you guys look over my work and we can get it ship shape before putting an edit request in. Much of the text is the existing text and is not all my own work.

"The Rafale was developed as a modern jet fighter with a very high level of agility; Dassault chose to combine a 48 degree swept delta wing with active close-coupled canards to maximize maneuverability. The wings are fitted with differential elevons and automatic leading edge slats (https://www.defencexp.com/rafale-a-real-game-changer-for-india/#google_vignette) The aircraft is capable of withstanding from −3.6 g to 9 g (10.5 g on Rafale solo display and a maximum of 11g can be reached in case of emergency[78][79]). The Rafale is an aerodynamically unstable aircraft and uses a quadruple redundant digital fly-by-wire flight controls to artificially maintain stability and provide structural protection. The flight control systems translates pilot inputs to the various control surfaces for optimal performance and stability thoughout the flight envelope.[79][N 2] The aircraft's canards also act to reduce the minimum landing speed to 115 knots (213 km/h; 132 mph); while in flight, airspeeds as low as 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) have been observed during training missions.[7 The structure includes extensive use of composites and advanced materials to reduce weight. The wings and much of the fuselage are carbon fiber, the leading edge slats are made from titanium. Kevlar and aluminum-lithium alloys are used in key locations.

References Janes All the worlds aircraft 1995-1996 page 90-91. https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/europe/rafale-design.htm https://defenseissues.wordpress.com/2013/08/24/dassault-rafale-analysis/ https://www.ijrame.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/V8i101.pdf Liger404 (talk) 06:51, 19 July 2025 (UTC)

Neither GlobalSecurity (per WP:GLOBALSECURITY) nor the two Wordpress blogs are acceptable reliable sources for this edit. Only the Janes source would qualify, if it actually supports all of those claims from a 1995 document (which seems unlikely given the Rafale didn't fully enter service for 5 more years subsequently).⇒SWATJester ^{Shoot Blues, Tell VileRat!} 16:39, 27 September 2025 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 7 August 2025

Airframe description changes

This is a re write with added material to the existing paragraph, much of the original wording is retained, all references are retained. I have left them in number form, I do not know how to hyperlink them in these edit request as I am somewhat new. New references are added, I have attached them below in template form. This is intended to entirely replace the "Design, Overview" paragraph. The new paragraph is below.

"The Rafale was developed as a modern jet fighter with a very high level of agility; Dassault chose to combine a 48 degree swept delta wing with active close-coupled canards to maximize maneuverability. The wings are fitted with differential elevons and automatic leading edge slats The aircraft is capable of withstanding from −3.6 g to 9 g (10.5 g on Rafale solo display and a maximum of 11g can be reached in case of emergency[78][79]). The Rafale is an aerodynamically unstable aircraft and uses a quadruple redundant, digital fly-by-wire flight control system. The flight control systems translates the pilot inputs as well as information from the air data computer to the various control surfaces. This allows the system to artificially maintain stability and provide structural protection, whilst maximising manoeuvrability and ease of use throughout the flight envelope.[79][N 2] The aircraft's canards act to reduce the minimum landing speed to 115 knots (213 km/h; 132 mph), very relevant for carrier or short field operations; while in flight, airspeeds as low as 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) have been observed during training missions.[7] The structure includes extensive use of composites and advanced materials to reduce weight. The wings and much of the fuselage are carbon fiber, the leading edge slats are made from titanium. Kevlar and aluminum-lithium alloys are used in key locations."

References to be added at the end of the paragraph, they are all used at various points in various sentences, so this seems like the best way.

Liger404 (talk) 05:15, 4 August 2025 (UTC)

References

Liger404 (talk) 05:21, 4 August 2025 (UTC)

•  Not done - for the same reasons mentioned as in your request of 2 months ago: Neither GlobalSecurity (per WP:GLOBALSECURITY) nor the two Wordpress blogs are acceptable reliable sources for this edit. Only the Janes source would qualify, if it actually supports all of those claims (and it seems unlikely given the text originated from a 1995 document, given the Rafale didn't fully enter service for 5 more years subsequently; one would also expect there to have been substantive changes to the 2005 edition with a different page number, but that doesn't seem reflected in the text). ⇒SWATJester ^{Shoot Blues, Tell VileRat!} 16:43, 27 September 2025 (UTC)

  That ok mate. I even got some new references from Rafale themselves. I'll update this later in the week after the school holidays. Are those sources on the depreciated list and I just missed them? Or is this sort of thing discussed elsewhere? Liger404 (talk) 11:41, 28 September 2025 (UTC)

  Surely the IJRAME reference is acceptable? That's a fairly large official research institution. Peer reviewed and published in various Science Journals and the like. Liger404 (talk) 11:45, 28 September 2025 (UTC)

  Yeah you're right, on second look it appears that the IJRAME one just uses Wordpress for the upload, but is not actually a blog; that one should be fine. With regard to your other question: Global Security is on the list at RSP (see WP:GLOBALSECURITY), while the Defense Issues blog is covered at WP:RSPWORDPRESS by virtue of being a hosted Wordpress blog. ⇒SWATJester ^{Shoot Blues, Tell VileRat!} 16:47, 28 September 2025 (UTC)

Change of operator map

Indknesia has recieved the first 3 rafales of the 42 it ordered on january 26th 2026 i request that the map to be replaced with a newer and more up to date map thank you. Someone-who-like-history (talk) 10:07, 10 February 2026 (UTC)

Facts or flawed opinion

The Article claimed that no Indian Rafales were lost simply because India sought a tender to pay 'bridge support' for all 36 of the initially acquired Rafale jets. An opinion piece in TOI had pushed that this as a trump card proving that no Rafales were lost. But the tender is not, by itself, definitive proof that no Rafales were lost. Honestly to me, it seems more like India is still paying for all 36 support packages to keep up appearances. It doesn't inherently prove they didn't lose any by simply paying for support. The issue is the biased opinion piece appears to present an inference rather than direct evidence. At minimum, the source should be attributed and also not overstate circumstantial evidence as if it "debunked" the claim when it objectively doesn't at all - which I have done here - . In future, if editors want to add the claim is "debunked" , they shouldn't rely on opinion pieces - but ask if the evidence itself is sufficient to debunk. This tender is circumstantial and objectively doesn't debunk anything by itself. Smalledi2 (talk) 02:44, 27 June 2026 (UTC)

Lack of sources in the Operators table and link problems for the 124 Rafale aircraft of the French Air Force

Hello,Perhaps it's just me with a display problem, but I don't see a source for the table with the operators, the number, the losses, and the precision of the number according to the ranks (F1,2,3,4).

Furthermore, though it's possible I missed something, the two links mentioning the Air Force's 124 Rafale aircraft (in the operators' section) don't provide numbers. One of them has more than 10 years,So I find that strange ~2026-41464-78 (talk) 16:30, 25 July 2026 (UTC)

The summary table does not list citations, but the entries in the "Current operators" subsection are cited. The summary table should be cited or removed, imo. -Fnlayson (talk) 17:55, 25 July 2026 (UTC)

(I'm the person who started this thread, but I forgot to create an account, sorry)

For the sources in "Current Operators", there are two sources (507 and 508)which are given for the 124 Rafales in the French Air Force.

The problem is that I've looked at both sources (and they are Dassault sources)and there are not the 124 mentioned, nor even information that allows us to deduce that there are 124 in the air force.

Regarding the table you're talking about, I agree too, it needs to have quotes or it needs to be removed. PetitNormand (talk) 11:24, 26 July 2026 (UTC)