
My wingman 'Squeeky' taking off at a rate of knots in the Rafale


20 seconds and 20,000ft and iverted over the runway

The Rafale A technology demonstrator was rolled out in late 1985 and made its maiden flight on 4 July 1986. The SNECMA M88 engines being developed were not considered sufficiently mature for the initial trials programme to be conducted without risk (though their development status has often been underplayed), so the demonstrator flew with General Electric F404-GE-400 afterburning turbofans as used on the F/A-18 Hornet. Production orders were placed in 1988.

The Armee de l'Air received its first three Rafale Bs (to F2 standards) in late December 2004. They went to the Centre d'Expériences Aériennes Militaires (CEAM) at Mont-de-Marsan for operational evaluation and associated pilot conversion training.




Heathrow??

The total programme cost is around €28 billion, which translates to a unit programme cost of approximately €95 million.
The unit system cost is €91 million, or €88 million including development cost per aircraft.
The unit flyaway price as of 2006 is €51.8 million for the Air Force version, and €56.6 million for the Navy version.