When did the Rafale come out?

"When did it come out" can be read in two ways: when the aircraft first appeared, or when the next version arrives. Both have an answer, because the Rafale is an 1980s fighter that keeps being updated through successive standards.

In 1985 France left the European program that would lead to the Eurofighter because it wanted a lighter aircraft, suitable for carrier operations and able to replace seven different types. Dassault built the Rafale A demonstrator, which flew on 4 July 1986 with American F404 engines before receiving the French Snecma M88. The first definitive prototype, the single-seat C01, took off on 19 May 1991. The first operational unit was Flotille 12F of the French Naval Aviation, aboard the carrier Charles de Gaulle, declared operational in 2004; the Armée de l'Air introduced it in 2006.

Each standard adds capabilities without changing the airframe. The F1 was air-to-air only; the F2 added ground attack; the F3 and F3R brought the RBE2 AESA electronically scanned radar, the Meteor missile and the Talios pod. The F4, whose first deliveries took place in 2023, improves connectivity, sensors and predictive maintenance. The F5, under development, is expected around 2030 with a new radar, expanded electronic warfare and a companion combat drone derived from the nEUROn.

Since 2015 the Rafale has racked up orders from Egypt, Qatar, India, Greece, Croatia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and Serbia, and Dassault has had to raise its production rate from one to more than three aircraft per month. That's why a new customer can wait several years between signing the contract and the first delivery (as of 2025).