"La DGA commande les 1ers travaux en amont du prochain lancement en réalisation du standard F5 du Rafale Ils concernent notamment : la centrale inertielle le moteur le radar la suite d’autoprotection de l’avion" — Direction générale de l'armement (DGA), 9 September 2026.
Contracts ordered to tackle highest technical risks
The French defence procurement agency, the Direction générale de l'armement (DGA), has moved quickly to buy the riskiest components for the Rafale F5 upgrade ahead of the overall development contract expected by the end of 2026. The initial upstream work was ordered from Dassault Aviation, Thales, MBDA and Safran and targets navigation (the inertial unit), propulsion, radar, the self-protection suite, datalinks and other key systems. The F5 standard is planned to enter service with the French Air and Space Force and the French Navy starting around 2033.
RBE2‑XG radar: gallium nitride, more power, and AI-ready processing
The DGA has highlighted the Thales RBE2‑XG radar as a major technological advance for F5. The RBE2‑XG is expected to feature gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors. According to the DGA, “This new radar will benefit from a substantial increase in power, and consequently in detection range, as well as improvements in the identification of targets with an extremely low radar cross‑section (RCS). Its computing capabilities will also be enhanced to facilitate the integration of artificial intelligence.”
The DGA also says the RBE2‑XG will be “designed with collaborative combat in mind, featuring sensors capable of working together without the need for pilot intervention,” and that it will have enhanced resilience, including against cyber threats.
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End the scrambleElectronic warfare, datalinks, propulsion and weapons
The F5 programme combines a number of simultaneous upgrades. MBDA and Thales will develop the forthcoming F5 version of the SPECTRA self‑protection suite; the DGA describes it as adopting “a fully digital approach, enabling a complete overhaul of the core electronic warfare system to counter the increasing density and broadening of the threat spectrum, as well as the growing complexity of threat waveforms, expected by 2035.”
Thales will also deliver a new Inter‑Vehicle Data Link (IVDL) described by the DGA as a “stealthy and resilient datalink” that will provide a “new high‑speed, discreet, and jamming‑resistant waveform,” allowing Rafales to operate where jammers are widespread while maintaining communications quality between aircraft.
Safran will begin preliminary design on the M88 T‑Rex engine, intended to raise turbofan thrust from around 16,500 pounds to nearly 19,850 pounds — an increase of roughly 20 percent. On armament, the contracts reference the ASN4G missile, planned for introduction by 2035 to preserve the Rafale F5’s role in the airborne nuclear component; the ASN4G is described as a hypersonic weapon (greater than Mach 5) with a range in excess of 1,000 kilometres (621 miles). Other likely weapons include a beyond‑visual‑range air‑to‑air missile to succeed Meteor, with France’s Comet programme apparently aimed at introducing such a weapon around 2030.
Strategic fallout from the collapse of the Franco‑German NGF arrangement
F5’s acceleration follows the effective collapse of the Franco‑German New Generation Fighter (NGF) effort in its original configuration. Where F5 was originally intended mainly as a bridge to NGF, the programme has been recast to carry much of France’s high‑end combat‑air capability well into the 2030s and potentially beyond. That includes incorporating NGF concepts such as distributed architectures in which crewed fighters, uncrewed aircraft, remote carriers, missiles and off‑board sensors cooperate across a battlespace.
But limits remain. The F5 airframe is still derived from a design that dates to the 1980s and, the reporting notes, “falls well short of fifth‑generation designs — let alone sixth‑generation ones — in terms of low observability.” The article suggests collaborative drones could help compensate for those signature limitations.
What this means for the French Air and Space Force, Dassault/partners, and export customers
- French Air and Space Force and French Navy: The F5 standard is slated to begin entering service around 2033 and is being shaped to allow Rafales to operate as the crewed node around which unmanned systems and remote weapons can function.
- Dassault Aviation, Thales, MBDA and Safran: These four French industrial players now share the backbone work that would have supported the FCAS effort and are positioned to carry those cooperative technologies forward into whatever follows F5 — whether that is crewed fighters, uncrewed combat aircraft, or a mix.
- Export customers and markets: Dassault has recorded export sales of 299 new‑build Rafales to eight nations; a more capable F5 could increase export appeal while France pursues a mixed acquisition approach — buying new‑build Rafales and upgrading suitable existing aircraft to F5, with the oldest jets unlikely to receive the full treatment.
The DGA’s early orders represent a clear pivot: rather than simply preserve the Rafale until a next‑generation fighter arrives, France is investing to make the Rafale itself a long‑term, networked combat node. The programme buys time and preserves French industrial sovereignty, but it also leaves open a hard question noted in the reporting — whether an upgraded fourth‑generation airframe can, on its own, match the survivability and signature advantages of purpose‑built next‑generation designs when contesting advanced integrated air‑defence systems deep inside hostile airspace.
