With the first batch of five out of 36 Rafale jets arriving from France for the Indian Air Force (IAF) — the need for which was felt the most due to the possibility of a two-front war thrust on India facing depleting squadrons by hostile neighbours China and Pakistan — it is in order to see how this fighter jet fares in competition with the Chengdu JF-17 Thunder that China has sold to Pakistan and the higher J-20 version it has kept with itself. Here’s a comparison in the tabular form.
| Specifcations | French-made Rafale of India | Chinese-made JF-17 Thunder of Pakistan | China’s own J-20 |
| Battle-tested | Yes [Tested in NATO/France’s 30,000 flight hours in Afghanistan, Libya, Mali, Iraq and Syria] | No | No |
| Type | MMRCA | MMRCA | MMRCA |
| Generation | 4.5 | 4 | 5 |
| Seats | Single & Double | Single & Double | Single |
| Empty weight | 9,900 kg to 10.600 kg | 6,411 kg | 19,000 kg |
| Maximum take-off weight | 24,500 kg | 12,474 kg | 37,013 kg |
| Fuel and weapons per flight | High | Medium | High |
| Length | 15.30 m | 14.93 m | 20.3 – 20.5 m |
| Height | 5.3 m | 4.77 m | |
| Wingspan | 10.9 m | 9.48 m | 12.88 – 13.50 m |
| Maximum speed | Mach 1.8/750 kt | Mach 1.6 | Mach 2 |
| Can climb up to | 50,000 ft | 54,000 ft | 65,620 ft |
| Rate of climbing | 60,000 ft/min | 59,000 ft/min | 59,842.52 ft/min |
| Operational range | 3,700 km (greater if refuelled mid-air) | 2,000 km | 2,037 km |
| Weapons | 1. MICA air-to-air BVR interception, combat and self-defence missiles 2. METEOR very long-range air-to-air missile 3. SCALP long-range air-to-land missile 4. AM39 EXOCET anti-ship missile 5. Non-guided and laser-guided bombs with warheads from 500 lbs to 2,000 lbs | Missiles: Air-to-air missiles: PL-5EII (within visual range missile) PL-9C (WVR missile) AIM-9L/M Sidewinder (Short-range) PL-8 (Short-range) PL-15 ( Very Long range Beyond Visual range missile) R-Darter (beyond visual range missile) SD-10A (PL-12 export version) (beyond visual range missile) Air-to-surface missiles: CM-102 (anti-radiation missile) LD-10 (anti-radiation missile) MAR-1 (anti-radiation missile) Ra’ad (Nuclear Stealth Cruise missile) Ra’ad MK-2 (Nuclear Stealth Cruise missile) Anti-ship missiles: C-802AK (anti-ship missile) Exocet (anti-ship missile) C-803 (sea skimming anti-ship missile) CM-400AKG (anti-ship missile) Bombs: Unguided bombs: Mk-80(General-purpose bomb) Mk-82 (General-purpose bomb) Mk-83 (General-purpose bomb) Mk-84 (General-purpose bomb) 250 kg Pre-fragmented bomb Matra Durandal (Anti-runway bomb) AWC HAFR-2 (Anti-runway bomb) AWC HAFR-1 (Anti-runway bomb) AWC RPB-1 (Anti-runway bomb) CBU-99 (Anti-armour cluster bomb) CBU-100 Cluster Bomb (Anti-armour cluster bomb) Guided bombs: GBU-10 (Laser-guided bomb) GBU-12 (Laser-guided bomb) GBU-16 (Laser-guided bomb) LT-2 (Precision-guided bomb) JDAM (Precision-guided bomb) H-4 SOW Stand off weapon (Precision-guided glide bomb) H-2 SOW Stand off weapon (Precision-guided glide bomb) Takbir (GPS/INS guided glide bomb) LS-6 (GPS/INS guided bomb) | 1. PL-10 short-range AAM 2. PL-12 medium-range AAM 3. PL-15 BVR long-range AAM 4. PL-21 long-range AAM 5. LS-6 precision-guided bomb |
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