Dassault Rafale C
The single-seat land-based Rafale — the French Air and Space Force's baseline omnirole fighter · First flight 1991 · In service 2006
The production Rafale grew out of the Rafale A technology demonstrator, which first flew on 4 July 1986 with General Electric F404 engines. The definitive design was slightly smaller and lighter and switched to the new Snecma M88 turbofan; the first single-seat prototype, C01, flew at Istres on 19 May 1991. Capability arrived in successive standards: F1 (air-to-air only), F2 (air-to-ground) and F3 (nuclear-capable, with the Areos reconnaissance pod), later followed by F3R and F4.
The French Air Force's first Rafale squadron, Escadron de Chasse 1/7 Provence at Saint-Dizier, received its first aircraft and was declared operational on 27 June 2006, replacing the Jaguar. France's orders for the Air Force and Navy reached 180 aircraft after a further contract in November 2009, and the Rafale C serves in the same squadrons as the two-seat Rafale B.
Because every Rafale carries the same sensor suite, a single aircraft can fly air-defence, strike and reconnaissance tasks on one sortie, which is why Dassault markets the type as "omnirole". The Air and Space Force's Rafale Solo Display pilot flies a specially painted Rafale C at airshows across Europe.
