Rafale vs F-18
Dassault Rafale vs F/A-18EF Super Hornet
Comments of readers (Feel free to “Leave a Reply” on bottom.)1. If Rafale is not sale at this time, it’s not because is a bad airplane… This is only for 2 reasons, not enough lobbying and less political influence than USA !! French airplanes are superb and very efficient! they produce quality with 10 times less money than USA…
2. The cost of the Rafale is good, but not as good as some other fighters (Chengdu J10). The capability of the Rafale is good, but not better than most aircraft of this field.
3. The F14 is the only true American plane and the only country to have purchased is … Iran! Rafale is much more better than all, but french propaganda is much more smaller than americain and russian.
4. If the Americans are so good at building aircrafts, why countries who participate in the JSF program are looking at other alternatives? Same goes for the bribing/lobbying allegations which could be said about almost any country who sold military gear recently… Anyway, both countries are among the very few who have been building advanced fighters for the last 60 years. Most of Dassault fighters have been used in real operations worldwide and even copied by Israelis which would tend to support the french know-how in building military aircrafts, fighters especially.
5. If the Rafale is such a great plane, why is no one buying it? French aircraft are generally bad, as is their aircraft carrier. And FA-18’s pilots are better trained than the the other guys…
6. Even though the Dassault Rafale is a better aircraft overall according to the above noted comparison , the cost of the Rafale is more than double the of the cost of the F/A 18 . With that in mind an air force can technically equip itself with 2 F/A18’s to every Rafale . We also cannot discount the fact that pilot training can go a long way in overcoming advantages shown in plane comparisons such as these . So due to the economic advantage of the F/A 18’s and pilot training, my choice would be the F/A-18 Super Hornet.
Rafale vs F/A-18E Flight Cost Per Hour
Overall and BVR ratings
| CATEGORY | DASSAULT RAFALE | F/A-18E/F SUPER HORNET |
| BVR Rating | 90% | 83% |
| Armament | 8.6/10 | 7.9/10 |
| Technology | 8.5/10 | 8.9/10 |
| Avionics | 8.4/10 | 9.0/10 |
| Maneuverability | 9.3/10 | 7.8/10 |
| Rate of Climb | max. 300 m/s – 60k ft/min | max. 228 m/s – 44k ft/min |
| Thrust/Weight | 1.13 | 1.03 |
| Service Ceiling | 17 km – 55k ft | 15 km – 50k ft |
| Speed | 2.00 Mach | 1.80 Mach |
| Fuel Economy | 0.70 km/l – 1.65 NM/gallon | 0.60 km/l – 1.21 NM/gallon |
| Unit Cost | 130.000.000 USD | 80.000.000 USD |
| Overall Rating | excellent | very good |
BVR (Beyond Visual Range) Ratings
| CATEGORY | DASSAULT RAFALE | F/A-18E/F SUPER HORNET |
| BVR AAM missile | MBDA Meteor | AIM-120 AMRAAM |
| AAM origin | NATO | USA |
| Year | in 2013 | in 1997 |
| Range (mile) | 62 | 45 |
| Range (km) | 100 | 75 |
| Speed (mph) | 2640 | 2640 |
| Speed (km/h) | 4248 | 4248 |
| Radar | Thales RBE2-AA | AN/APG-79 |
| Radar overall rating | excellent | excellent |
| BVR Technology | 85% | 83% |
| BVR Def. Tech. | 85% | 80% |
| RCS – Radar Cross Section | 0.5-2.0 | 1.0-2.5 |
Dogfight (close to medium range) Ratings
| CATEGORY | DASSAULT RAFALE | F/A-18E/F SUPER HORNET |
| Cannon | GIAT 30M/719B | M61A1 Vulcan |
| Caliber (mm) | 30 mm | 20 mm |
| Rate of Fire (rpm) | 2500 rpm | 6000 rpm |
| Muzzle Velocity | 1025 m/s | 1050 m/s |
| Size Point 10%-30% | 20% | 20% |
| Maneuverability | 9.3 | 7,8 |
| Thrust/Weight Ratio | 1,13 | 1.03 |
| AAM (first) | MBDA MICA | AIM-7 Sparrow |
| Operational range | 0.2 – 50 km | 0.2 – 50 km |
| AAM (second) | R.550 MAGIC II | AIM-9 Sidewinder |
| Operational range | 0.3 – 15 km | 0.5 – 30 km |
| Dogfight Rating | 76% | 57% |
Size Comparison
| CATEGORY | DASSAULT RAFALE | F/A-18E/F SUPER HORNET |
| Length | 15.27 m – 50 ft 1 in | 18.4 m – 60.1 ft |
| Wingspan | 10.80 m – 35 ft 4 in | 13.65 m – 45 ft 0 in |
| Wing area | 45.7 m² – 492 ft² | 46.5 m² – 500 sq ft |
| Height | 5.30 m – 17 ft 3 in | 4.88 m – 16.0 ft |
| Weight | 10,100 kg – 22,6k lb | 14,500 kg – 32,0k lb |
| Power | 2 x 75 kN – 17k lbf | 2 x 97 kN – 22k lbf |