The F5 programme represents a major mid-life modernisation of the Rafale fleet. The new standard is expected to qualify around 2033 before entering service with the French Air and Space Force and later the French Navy.
The upgrade will support the renewal of France’s airborne nuclear deterrent through the integration of the future ASN4G missile. It will also prepare the Rafale for first-entry missions in contested operational environments.
A more open aircraft architecture will allow France to adapt the Rafale more quickly as missions and threats change. The redesign will focus particularly on the mission system and give the armed forces greater operational autonomy.
Dassault Aviation will oversee work on a very-low-drift inertial navigation unit using hemispherical resonator gyroscope technology. The system is among several components ordered by the French Defence Procurement Agency, known as the DGA, to reduce risk before the main development phase.
Thales will develop the Inter-Vehicle Data Link, or IVDL, following several years of DGA-funded research. The stealthy and resilient communications system will use a high-bandwidth waveform designed to resist jamming and maintain exchanges between aircraft in hostile airspace.
The F5 will also receive Thales’ RBE2-XG electronically scanned radar, an evolution of the RBE2 AESA system now in service. The new radar will offer higher power, longer detection range and improved identification of targets with extremely low radar cross-sections.
Greater computing capacity will support increased use of artificial intelligence within the radar system. Its sensors will be able to work collaboratively without direct pilot intervention, while retaining the dimensions of the current RBE2 and providing stronger resilience against cyber threats.
Thales and MBDA France will modernise the Rafale’s SPECTRA self-protection suite for the F5 standard. The fully digital system will improve threat detection and jamming across a broader and more congested electromagnetic spectrum.
Safran Aircraft Engines has received a contract for the preliminary design phase of the M88 T-REX engine. The upgrade is intended to raise maximum thrust by 20%, from 7.5 tonnes to 9 tonnes.
The T-REX will retain the M88-2’s modular architecture, basic structure and low fuel consumption. Changes to selected modules will allow components to be replaced without removing the entire engine, reducing aircraft downtime and supporting higher operational availability.
The contracts form part of France’s policy of modernising the Rafale through successive standards while preserving its operational performance and export appeal. More than 400 companies support the programme, which accounts for over 7,000 direct and indirect jobs across France.
Eight foreign customers have ordered 299 newly built Rafales and 24 second-hand aircraft. The F5 investment is intended to keep the platform aligned with French operational requirements for 2035 and beyond.
