Key Points and Summary: France’s Dassault Rafale—nicknamed “Burst of Fire/Gust of Wind”—is a twin-engine, 4.5-gen multirole jet with quasi-stealth shaping, AESA radar, IRST, potent EW, and 14 hardpoints for weapons from precision bombs to Storm Shadow/SCALP and nuclear-capable ASMP-A.
-Built as a wholly French system (airframe, sensors, and engines), it has flown combat missions over Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, and Syria, and now serves nine nations, including India, Qatar, the UAE, and Greece. Ongoing upgrades (RBE2 AESA, SPECTRA EW, Meteor integration) keep it competitive.
-Reported Taiwanese interest highlights its appeal—but any sale would be geopolitically fraught given Beijing’s likely backlash and Taipei’s current F-16/Mirage fleet.
Dassault Rafale Explained
“Burst of Fire” and “Gust of Wind” are the literal terms for France’s popular Dassault Rafale fourth-generation-plus twin-engine fighter jet now used by nine countries, a quasi-stealthy, smooth fighter proven to hit speeds of Mach 1.8, fire a wide complement of weapons, and launch from a carrier.
The aircraft has its own distinct look, featuring two wings on each side, a semi-smooth, rounded, blended wing body, and a thin, angular front section.
Armed with French-built Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar, infrared search and track, avionics, and weapons systems, the Dassault can carry air-dropped precision bombs, air-fired Storm Shadow missiles, air-to-air weapons, and a nuclear-capable cruise missile called the ASMP-A.
International Dassault Rafale
While built by French companies Dassault Aviation, Thales, and Safran, the fighter became quite successful as an international platform and is in service with India, Egypt, Qatar, Greece, Croatia, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, and Serbia.
The aircraft has 14 hardpoints to carry a large arsenal of attack weapons.
The Dassault Rafale was used in combat over Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, and Syria.
Unlike the multinational European Typhoon, the French Dassault’s sensors, electronic warfare (EW), avionics, and weapons systems were all built entirely in France.
The Dassault Rafale was originally part of a European teaming arrangement to build the Eurofighter, a multinational collaborative effort that has now become the well-known “Typhoon.”
France, however, exited this UK, Italy, Spain, and Germany collaborative initiative and built its own Dassault fighter.
The upgraded Rafale aircraft is newer than many 4th-generation aircraft that emerged in the 1980s, such as the F-15 and F-16.
Its continued relevance hinges on the extent to which it has been upgraded. If the Dassault Rafale has undergone an upgrade or modernization effort, or a Service Life Extension Plan.
The airframe could indeed prove extremely worthwhile in conflicts against 4th-generation aircraft.
There have been numerous technological breakthroughs in the last 20 years that the Dassault Rafale would have had to receive regular upgrades in order to compete in a modern threat environment.
A French Air and Space Force Rafale C from Mont-de-Marsan, Fighter Regiment 2/30, Normandie-Niémen, receives fuel from a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker from the 100th Air Refueling Wing, RAF Mildenhall, England, during exercise Atlantic Trident 25 over Finland, June 26, 2025. Atlantic Trident 25 is a recurring multinational training exercise between the U.S., U.K. and France to train in an interoperable environment, refining operational integration and ensuring Allied forces can seamlessly secure the Euro-Atlantic region. Finland hosted this iteration of the training series for the first time. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Christopher Campbell)
However, the French military has upgraded the Dassault Rafale, and an essay in a publication known as Flying states that the Rafale scored a “hit” on an F-35 in a simulated air combat contingency conducted during the recently completed exercise called Atlantic Trident 25.
Dassault Rafale to Taiwan?
It seems clear that the Dassault multi-role fighter has delivered consistent and “solid” combat performances and is likely popular with international customers for a reason.
The suggestion that Taiwan might be interested in the Dussault is unlikely to surprise anyone, although making that a reality is a complex and delicate question.
Dassault Aviation’s CEO, Eric Trappier, recently told the French National Assembly that Taiwan is indeed interested in the Dassault Rafale, according to an article in The Aviationist.
Interest in the jet, however, is quite apart from making such a development a reality, given the geopolitical sensitivities that such an idea is likely to generate between Taiwan and mainland China.
Taiwan acquired 60 Dassault Mirage 2000-5s in the 1990s, so it does seem conceivable that upgraded Dassaults could make sense, given that many of the Mirage 2000s require maintenance, spare parts, and large-scale modernization.
Adding Dassault Rafales could make sense for Taiwan, as the country currently operates only some F-16s and Mirage 2000s.
This circumstance arguably leaves Taiwan vulnerable to quickly losing air superiority to a much larger and technologically superior People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).
Given China’s growing fleet of hundreds of 5th-generation stealthy J-20s and Taiwan’s large fleet of 4th-generation fighters, it seems Taiwan would need to rely on US and allied F-35s to have any chance of slowing down a large-scale Chinese air invasion.
About the Author: Kris Osborn
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
More Military
B-1B Lancer: The Bomber The Air Force Needs to Keep Flying
Su-37 ‘Terminator’: The Thrust-Vectoring Super Flanker Fighter That Never Was
Russia or China Would Love to Have the Aircraft Carrier USS Harry S. Truman
NATO’s Big Fear: Putin Drops a Tactical Nuclear Weapon on Ukraine
The U.S. Military’s Big F-22 Raptor Stealth Fighter Mistake Cuts Deep
