{"id":131154,"date":"2026-03-31T01:49:58","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T23:49:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/eurofighter-successor-wanted-the-outsider-rafale-f5\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T23:37:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T21:37:22","slug":"eurofighter-successor-wanted-the-outsider-rafale-f5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/eurofighter-successor-wanted-the-outsider-rafale-f5\/","title":{"rendered":"Eurofighter successor wanted &#8211; the outsider: Rafale F5"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Austrian Armed Forces <a href=\"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/why-the-austrian-armed-forces-want-to-procure-36-eurofighter-successors-and-what-it-will-cost\/\"><strong>is looking for a successor for its Tranche 1 Eurofighter<\/strong><\/a>. According to Milit\u00e4r Aktuell research <a href=\"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/eurofighter-successor-seven-candidates-in-the-running\/\"><strong>a total of seven fourth and fifth generation candidates<\/strong><\/a> &#8211; including the Rafale F5, an outsider from France. <\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The twin-engine Rafale from <a href=\"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/defence-company-portal\/dasault-aviation\/\"><strong>Dassault Aviation<\/strong><\/a> is a special case for Europe. It stands for a top technological achievement by a single country, which &#8211; in line with the French philosophy of autonomous, nuclear-powered defense &#8211; opted for independence at an early stage. France left the Eurofighter consortium and developed all components &#8211; from engines to radar and subsystems &#8211; independently with around 400 national suppliers. Even a carrier-capable naval version, the Rafale M, is included.   <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/newsletter\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-119250 size-full\" title=\"\u00a9Military News\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.militaeraktuell-cdn.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/10152300\/Feldpost_245x40mm-web_vs4_ml_20240703.jpg\" alt=\"\u00a9Military News\" width=\"1447\" height=\"236\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.militaeraktuell-cdn.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/10152300\/Feldpost_245x40mm-web_vs4_ml_20240703.jpg 1447w, https:\/\/cdn.militaeraktuell-cdn.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/10152300\/Feldpost_245x40mm-web_vs4_ml_20240703-300x49.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.militaeraktuell-cdn.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/10152300\/Feldpost_245x40mm-web_vs4_ml_20240703-1024x167.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.militaeraktuell-cdn.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/10152300\/Feldpost_245x40mm-web_vs4_ml_20240703-768x125.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.militaeraktuell-cdn.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/10152300\/Feldpost_245x40mm-web_vs4_ml_20240703-712x116.jpg 712w, https:\/\/cdn.militaeraktuell-cdn.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/10152300\/Feldpost_245x40mm-web_vs4_ml_20240703-696x114.jpg 696w, https:\/\/cdn.militaeraktuell-cdn.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/10152300\/Feldpost_245x40mm-web_vs4_ml_20240703-1068x174.jpg 1068w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1447px) 100vw, 1447px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>However, there was little demand for the Rafale on the international market for a long time. In contrast to the legendary Mirage models, it only found favor with the Arm\u00e9e de l&#8217;Air around 15 years after its entry into service. <a href=\"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/kategorie\/armed-forces-international\/france\/\"><strong>Arm\u00e9e de l&#8217;Air<\/strong><\/a> found its first export customers. <\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, the picture has changed fundamentally: The Rafale is now an internationally sought-after jet, and the program continues to evolve in constant steps of modernization. The current F3R version already has an AESA radar from <a href=\"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/defence-company-portal\/thales\/\"><strong>Thales<\/strong><\/a>improved self-protection systems and enhanced air-to-ground capabilities. The newly introduced F4 variant focuses in particular on digital networking, optimized maintenance and enhanced mission connectivity.  <\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n<h2>The other Eurofighter successor candidates for the Austrian Armed Forces<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/eurofighter-successor-wanted-the-all-rounder-f-35a\/\"><strong>The all-rounder: F-35A from Lockheed Martin<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/eurofighter-successor-wanted-the-logical-choice-eurofighter-neo\/\"><strong>The logical choice: Eurofighter Neo<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/eurofighter-successor-wanted-the-most-efficient-saab-gripen-e-f\/\"><strong>The most efficient: Saab Gripen E\/F<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/eurofighter-successor-wanted-the-exotic-kai-kf-21\/\"><strong>The exotic: KAI KF-21<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/eurofighter-successor-wanted-the-underdog-tai-kaan\/\"><strong>The underdog: TAI Kaan<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/eurofighter-successor-wanted-the-surprise-candidate-f-16-block-70\/\"><strong>The surprise candidate: F-16 Block 70<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n<p>The 300th aircraft was delivered in October 2025, and total orders now amount to 533 jets. So far, Egypt, India, Qatar, Greece and Croatia have been supplied. There are currently 42 F4 jets in production for France. For export, 42 aircraft are in the works for Indonesia, 80 for the United Arab Emirates, 26 naval versions for India and 12 for Serbia.    <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-130213 size-full\" title=\"The underdog: Rafale F5\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.militaeraktuell-cdn.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/26093329\/Rafale-B__Grafik-NEU.jpg\" alt=\"The underdog: Rafale F5\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1410\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.militaeraktuell-cdn.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/26093329\/Rafale-B__Grafik-NEU.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/cdn.militaeraktuell-cdn.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/26093329\/Rafale-B__Grafik-NEU-300x165.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.militaeraktuell-cdn.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/26093329\/Rafale-B__Grafik-NEU-1024x564.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.militaeraktuell-cdn.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/26093329\/Rafale-B__Grafik-NEU-768x423.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.militaeraktuell-cdn.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/26093329\/Rafale-B__Grafik-NEU-712x392.jpg 712w, https:\/\/cdn.militaeraktuell-cdn.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/26093329\/Rafale-B__Grafik-NEU-1536x846.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.militaeraktuell-cdn.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/26093329\/Rafale-B__Grafik-NEU-2048x1128.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/cdn.militaeraktuell-cdn.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/26093329\/Rafale-B__Grafik-NEU-763x420.jpg 763w, https:\/\/cdn.militaeraktuell-cdn.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/26093329\/Rafale-B__Grafik-NEU-696x383.jpg 696w, https:\/\/cdn.militaeraktuell-cdn.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/26093329\/Rafale-B__Grafik-NEU-1068x588.jpg 1068w, https:\/\/cdn.militaeraktuell-cdn.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/26093329\/Rafale-B__Grafik-NEU-1920x1058.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Rafale F5<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Manufacturer<\/strong> Dassault Aviation<br \/>\n<strong>Engine<\/strong> 2 \u00d7 Snecma\/Safran M88 2<br \/>\n<strong>Power<\/strong> 72.9 kN thrust per engine (with afterburner)<br \/>\n<strong>Top speed<\/strong> Mach 1.8<br \/>\n<strong>Armament<\/strong> Wide range of air-to-air and air-to-ground <strong>weapons<\/strong>, nuclear option, 30-millimeter cannon<br \/>\n<strong>Span<\/strong> 10.90 meters<br \/>\n<strong>Length<\/strong> 15.30 meters<\/p>\n<p>The F5 standard should be operational by 2030 (<a href=\"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/dassault-rafale-f5-frances-co-financing-with-uae-fails\/\"><strong>-&gt; France&#8217;s potential co-financier, the UAE, has declined to participate in the program<\/strong><\/a>), which will completely replace the French fleet from 2035. It is regarded as a bridging technology between the fourth and fifth generation and marks the next evolutionary stage of the French multi-role combat aircraft. <\/p>\n<p>The F5 version will be equipped with conformal fuel tanks to increase range, improved stealth coating, enhanced sensor technology, AI-supported sensor fusion and modernized communication interfaces to ensure integration into networked battlefields. In addition, the integration of an accompanying stealth combat drone is planned from 2033. In future, each jet will be able to complete over 300 flight hours per year without compromising on safety.  <\/p>\n<p>All in all, the Rafale is now one of the most successful western fighter aircraft. However, it became clear at the Paris Air Show 2025 that Austria &#8211; if it wants to play a role in the strategic perception of the globally busy Dassault family group &#8211; will have to communicate the seriousness of its procurement intentions more clearly. <\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><em><i><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/defence-company-portal\/dasault-aviation\/\">Here<\/a><\/strong> for more news about Dassault Aviation and <a href=\"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/category\/bundesheer-inside\/\"><strong>here<\/strong><\/a> to further army news.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Austrian Armed Forces is looking for a successor for its Tranche 1 Eurofighter. According to Milit\u00e4r Aktuell research a total of seven fourth and fifth generation candidates &#8211; including the Rafale F5, an outsider from France.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":131155,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[198,210,245,285],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-131154","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-defence-industry","8":"category-bundesheer-inside","9":"category-air-force","10":"category-dassault-aviation-en"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131154"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131212,"href":"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131154\/revisions\/131212"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}