Logo Defense aerospace
Home > Latest news > France Takes Delivery of First Upgraded Rafale F4 Fighter

Delivery of the First Rafale to the F4 Standard to the French Air and Space Force

(Source: French Armes Forces Ministry; issued March 7, 2023)
(Unofficial translation by Defense-Aerospace.com)
The French air force has taken delivery of the first Rafale fighter upgraded to the latest F4 standard, which is planned to remain in service until the 2040s. The aircraft, along with a second, will now be evaluated by the Directorate-General of Armaments before being retrofitted to the entire French fleet. (French MoD photo)

PARIS --- On March 2, 2023, the first Rafale upgraded to the latest F4 standard was delivered to the Air and Space Force’s Military Air Expertise Center (CEAM), located at Air Base 118 in Mont-de-Marsan.

This aircraft is a current, Rafale F3R standard which was sent to the Flight Test Center of the General Directorate of Armaments (DGA) in Istres for its software transformation and their transition to the F4 standard.

In 2019, then Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly formalized the development of the Rafale F4 by qualifying the project as a real " technological, industrial and strategic leap ". This is reflected, in particular by the integration of new capabilities such as the integration of a helmet sight, the TALIOS pod and a new 1,000 kg guided bomb. The air-to-air, air-to-ground fire controls and the self-protection system are also optimized.

Several experimentation phases now await the aircraft over the coming months, based on the delivery of a second Rafale F4 within a few weeks. Initially, the “adoption” phase of the aircraft aims to allow the appropriation of the Rafale F4 by the forces for training missions. The next phase will make it possible to achieve the initial operational capability (IOC) of the aircraft before the final stage of full operational capability (FOC).

-ends-

You could also be interested in :