A French F-2 Rafale flies over Iraq in 2016. Credit: USA/Tech. Sgt. Nathan Lipscomb

Providing its annual production update in early January 2025, French aerospace manufacturer Dassault confirmed delivery of 21 Rafale multirole fighters in 2024, compared to 13 aircraft in 2023.

Broken down by aircraft for the French Armed Forces versus those destined for international customers, Dassault stated that 14 platforms were for national use in 2024, while seven were intended for export.

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This compares to 11 Rafales delivered to the French military in 2023, with just two handed over to foreign operators.

A total of 30 export orders were confirmed in 2024 for the Rafale fighter, compared to 60 aircraft (42 French, 18 export) in 2023. As of 31 December 2024, Dassault’s Rafale backlog included 220 Rafale (164 export, 56 France) versus 211 units as of 31 December 2023.

Dassault Aviation confirmed that it will publish its full annual results on 5 March 2025, including revenue, and value of order intakes and backlog.

France looks to Rafale F4.1 standard

In December 2024 the French DGA confirmed that it had received the 14th and final Rafale scheduled for delivery in the year, representing the 26th aircraft in a batch of 39 airframes intended to be delivered to the French Air and Space Force by 2025.

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The 40th aircraft will be delivered at the beginning of 2026 for use as a test aircraft. A subsequent production phase of 42 Rafale’s to the F4.1 standard, confirmed in 2023, will see the first deliveries take place from 2027.

The F4.1 model provides a range of upgrades and additional capabilities, including the integration of the new helmet sight, improved fire control for use with the Meteor missile, expanded passive threat detections, and boosted datalink exchange.

Additional functionalities also provide greater protection against cyber threats and new functions for the Talios designation pod and the RBE2 radar. All Rafales of the French Air and Space Force and the French Navy will gradually be retrofitted to the F4 standard.