Dassault marks 300th Rafale jet production milestone as exports continue to grow
October 10, 2025
On 7th October, France’s Dassault announced it had completed the production of its 300th Rafale multirole fighter jet just a few days prior. The milestone highlighted France’s success in going it alone and developing a fourth-generation fighter.
Dassault produces 300th Rafale
Dassault has now produced 300 Rafales and has another 233 unfulfilled orders. The company is currently working to increase production to meet a surge in demand for the jet. The Rafale is designed to be an “omnirole” fighter or a sort of Swiss army knife of fighter jets, able to do a bit of everything.
In 1979, Dassault joined the early development of what would become the Eurofighter Typhoon project. However, disagreements soon saw France pull out of the partnership and go its own way to develop the Rafale.
The Rafale’s first flight took place in 1986, although it wasn’t until 2004 that the jet entered service in the French Navy, followed by the French Air Force in 2006. Export orders for the jet were low for years, but they picked up later on with notable orders from Middle Eastern countries, Indonesia, and India.
Livraison du 300e #Rafalehttps://t.co/BigU3USUsS
— Dassault Aviation (@Dassault_OnAir) October 7, 2025
Delivery of the 300th Rafalehttps://t.co/xdC17T1FIg pic.twitter.com/xMdhQr0RSz
Exports are constrained by production capacity. Dassault delivered 14 Rafales in 2022, 13 in 2023, before ramping it up to 21 in 2024. In 2024, it received another 30 orders for the Rafale, and in its 2024 report, the company stated it plans to deliver 25 Rafales in 2025.
In the press release celebrating its 300th Rafale, it claims to plan to increase production rates to four per month. If realized, that would equate to 48 a year.
The Rafale’s growing exports
Export deliveries began over a decade after the jet became operational in France. The first examples were exported to Egypt in 2015.
So far, the Rafale has been selected by eight countries, with the latest being Serbia, after it found ordering Russian fighter jets to replace its MiG-29s was untenable.
Qatar leads in exports, having ordered an impressive 80 Rafales, while Indonesia has ordered 42 examples. Indonesia’s order may grow to 66 Rafales.
India has ordered 36 jets for the Indian Air Force and 26 for the Indian Navy, a total of 62 aircraft. In a first, Dassault stated it is setting up a production line in India in partnership with Tata to build Indian fuselage sections locally. The first sections are expected to roll off the production lines in Hyderabad in FY 2028.
Serbia is preparing a massive pivot away from Russia with a €3bn order for a dozen French Rafale fighter jets.
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) April 14, 2024
Per a Serbian official quoted by the Financial Times "Due to geopolitical circumstances now it is not even feasible — even if you wish — to buy from Russia" pic.twitter.com/oUP3rK9Cql
Egypt has ordered a total of 55 Rafales, while Qatar has ordered 36, Greece ordered 24 (12 of which were second-hand from the French Air Force), Croatia ordered 12 second-hand Rafales, and Serbia has recently placed an order for 12 Rafales.
FCAS to replace the Rafale starting in 2040s
The Rafale is expected to remain in French service until 2060, when it is replaced with the sixth-generation FCAS fighter jet.
The FCAS sixth-generation fighter jet is scheduled to enter service around 2040 and is being developed in partnership with Germany and Spain.
However, deep disagreements between Germany’s Airbus and France’s Dassault are threatening to scupper the project. Dassault is demanding leadership of the project along with 80% of the workshare. Germany has said it will not meekly provide funding for a French aircraft.
Dassault has threatened to walk away and build the aircraft itself, like it did with the Rafale. Meanwhile, Germany has said it could cut losses with France and either build its own jet with other partners or potentially join the rival British-led GCAP programme as a late participant. It is likely too late for Germany to join GCAP as a full industrial partner.
