Le Rafale completed its testing campaign in Finland

In Europe, the Rafale is engaged in two international competitions, both aimed at replacing F/A-18C/D Hornets. After Switzerland, which evaluated the Rafale last summer on the Payerne base, it was therefore Finland's turn to invite Dassault to present its Rafale based in Tampere-Pirkkala as part of the HX competition. This evaluation follows that of the Eurofighter Typhoon and precedes that of the Saab Gripen E, which begins tomorrow. Subsequently, the Finnish Air Force will receive the F-35 from Lockheed Martin and, subsequently, the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet from Boeing.

It is therefore on January 20 that two Rafale have arrived in Finland, and their return to France is expected today. These are two two-seaters, the Rafale B n°354 of the Air Force and the Rafale B n°301 used by the DGA and Dassault Aviation for the development of the latest aircraft standards. These are therefore, a priori, the same devices as those which had been deployed in Switzerland. Both are of the F3R standard, today operational in the French forces, but No. 301 seems to incorporate elements specific to a test aircraft and representative of certain functionalities currently being developed for the F4 standard or for certain foreign customers. .

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