Rafale was designed as one adaptable aircraft for land bases and aircraft carriers. Its canard-delta planform, digital flight controls, sensor fusion, and broad weapon compatibility let a single sortie combine air defense, strike, reconnaissance, and deterrence tasks.
INTERACTIVE MODEL LOADS WHEN NEARBY
2016 / ModernAirframe B
F-35A Lightning II
Lockheed Martin · Conventional multirole fighter
HISTORICAL FIELD NOTE
The conventional-runway F-35A combines low-observable shaping, sensor fusion, and internal weapons carriage with the lightest airframe and largest internal fuel load of the three F-35 variants. It entered U.S. Air Force operational service in 2016 and is designed for both air-to-air and precision-strike missions.
PERFORMANCE
SPECIFICATION BREAKDOWN
METRICDassault RafaleF-35A Lightning II
Top speed
Mach 1.8REFERENCE VALUE
Mach 1.6REFERENCE VALUE
Ceiling
50,000 ftREFERENCE VALUE
50,000 ftREFERENCE VALUE
Range
2,300 mi ferryREFERENCE VALUE
1,200+ nmiAPPROXIMATE / PUBLISHED
Archive milestone
Service entry · 2001REFERENCE VALUE
Service entry · 2016REFERENCE VALUE
Nation
FranceDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
United StatesDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
Primary role
Omnirole combat aircraftDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
Conventional multirole fighterDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
Values are concise archive references and can vary by variant, payload, configuration, altitude, operating conditions, and source. Range may describe different published measures where a directly comparable figure is unavailable.
