AERO 122 Dassault Rafale – Fojtík Jakub (2025)

The multipurpose aircraft Rafale is, after the SAAB JAS-39 Gripen, the last national European aircraft developed primarily for the needs of its own country. The increasing complexity and financial demands of modern combat aircraft mean that since the 1970s, European countries have been collaborating on the development and production of these machines, resulting in multinational projects with all their advantages and disadvantages. This was supposed to be the case for the Dassault Rafale, which was originally developed as France's contribution to European projects for new combat aircraft. However, further collaboration on a joint European type became impossible for France, as while the other countries involved in the later developed Eurofighter were interested in a broad division of developmental and production capacities—since none of them retained complete capability for developing modern aircraft—France was the opposite. A long line of combat aircraft from the Mirage family served not only in France but also in dozens of foreign countries, and thus the French industry, even during the development of the new aircraft, possessed complete development and production capabilities. Participation in the European program would therefore necessarily lead to a decline in these capabilities and likely also...