Dassault Rafale M by Academy

1/48 scale
Kit No. 12368
Retail: $40.00
Decals: Four versions – all Aeronavale
Comments: Optional position canopy, cockpit includes detailed ejection seat, detailed main instrument with decals, tub with raised relief on instrument side panels, separate control yoke and rudder pedals; ordnance/underwing stores include 2000-liter and 1250-liter external fuel tanks, MICA air-to-air missiles, SCALP cruise missiles, and GBU-12 Paveway laser-guided bombs; paint masks included

History

The Rafale M was phased into service in the Aeronavale, the air arm of the French Navy, between 2002 and 2006. One indication of its versatility and the breadth of its performance envelope is that it replaced not one, but four aircraft in French service: The Mirage 2000, the Jaguar, the F-8 Crusader and the Super Etendard. It is the only non-U.S. aircraft certified for operations from U.S. Navy aircraft carriers.

Studies for a successor to the Mirage 2000, dubbed ACX (for Avion de Combat Experimental) began during 1980-81. During this period Great Britain and West Germany were working on the Eurofighter, which would later become known as the Typhoon. France joined the Typhoon development effort along with Italy and Spain, but by mid-1985 had broken away to focus exclusively on the Rafale.

Dassault received approval to build two ACX prototypes (later reduced to one) in April 1983, the same month that SNECMA was tapped to develop its powerplant, the M88 turbofan. Design requirements expanded as the ACX morphed from simply a Mirage 2000 replacement, to also become the successor to the Anglo-French Jaguar attack aircraft, and the Aeronavale’s F-8 Crusader and Super Etendard fleets as well. In April 1985, the ACX was renamed the Rafale (French for “squall”).

Like all Mirage aircraft except the F.1, the Rafale A emerged as a tail-less Delta wing design with squared-off wingtips mounting missile rails. Following the lines of some of the Mirage III and Mirage V versions, it was fitted with canard foreplanes. This became the basic airframe for all Rafale versions that followed. The Rafale A first flew on July 4, 1986 with Guy Mitaux-Maurourad at the controls, using General Electric F404 engines as the interim powerplant.

One reason the Rafale is such a superb fighter is its lengthy and rigorous flight testing period. In 1990 after 460 test flights with the GE F404 engines, it was at last tested with the SNECMA M88-2 turbofan. A second round of test flights expanded its flight envelope to Mach 1.4 and 40,000 feet (12,192 meters). The Rafale A was retired in 1994 after 865 test flights, having proved the type’s design, performance, and fly-by-wire control system. It was larger than the production aircraft that followed, with a length of 51 feet, 10 in. (15.80 meters) and wingspan of 36 feet, 9 in. (11.20 meters). Production Rafales looked similar, but had more rounded wingroot fairings, a reconfigured fin junction and a gold-coated canopy — all of which serve to reduce the aircraft’s radar cross-section along with special radar-absorbent paint.

The Rafale M
The first prototype version of the Rafale M first flew in December 1991, and seven of the new aircraft began shakedown trials aboard the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in May 2001 with Flotille 12F alongside Super Etendards and E-2C Hawkeyes. While it had a lengthy development period, was the first of the Rafale series to enter service due to the urgent requirements of the Aeronavale. It also beat the Eurofighter and American F/A-22 into squadron service.

The Armee de l’Air and Aeronavale versions reportedly have 80 percent commonality between the airframes and systems, but the Rafale M also has a tailhook and strengthened undercarriage for carrier operations. The nosewheel incorporates a unique “jump strut” which holds tension until the end of the catapult track, then springs the nose upward to the optimum takeoff angle, eliminating the need for a ski-jump ramp (as seen on British aircraft carriers operating the Hawker Harrier) and allows for carrier decks of shorter length.

Throughout 2002, Rafales flew operational sorties over Afghanistan, but saw no combat. When a chance for mock dogfights with U.S. Navy fighters, the Rafale squadron eagerly accepted. However, there have been unconfirmed reports that F/A-18 Hornet squadrons declined to compare the two types in beyond visual range (BVR) engagements, a tacit admission of the more modern Rafale’s superiority. In fairness, it must be said that the two aircraft were developed some 30 years apart.

Flotille 12F was formally activated within the Aeronavale Order of Battle in October 2002, with software upgrades planned to develop the Rafale M’s air-to-surface capability. It entered service with a primary armament of a single 30mm DEFA 791B cannon, and up to 14 stations for carrying 17,637 lbs. (8,000 kg) of ordnance, including Matra Magic and Mica air-to-air missiles. It has since been modified to carry the ASMP-A nuclear missile, SCALP cruise missiles and an updated version of the AM.39 Exocet missile that gained international fame during the 1982 Falklands War.

The French Air Force operates 102 Rafales with seven Squadrons (1/4, 2/4, 2/30, 3/30 and 1/7, and the fighter and transformation squadron 3/4, and the experimentation fighter squadron 1/30) from three major air bases. The 46 M (Marine, Navy) aircraft, the only non-US fighter type cleared to operate from the decks of U.S. carriers, serves with 3 “Flotilles“ (11F, 12F, 17F) from the Naval Air Base Landivisiau (located in the region of Brittany in northwestern France). In late April 2025, India concluded a deal to buy 26 Rafale M’s from France for its own navy, augmenting the 36 Rafales already in service with the Indian Air Force. It will be the first foreign operator of the Rafale M.

The Rafale Marine cannot fold its wings, unlike the American F-18 Super Hornet, which makes it less practical on an aircraft carrier. But the French aircraft has other advantages: France has agreed to allow Indian Rafales to carry nuclear warheads, which the United States refuses to do. And the French aircraft and its missiles have a much greater range than the F-18 (1500 km vs 600 km), which is essential for India, which faces its powerful Chinese adversary.

The Kit

Academy’s Dassault Rafale M is injection molded in grey plastic and consists of 190 parts, including 22 clear parts for the canopy, navigation lights, and alternate parts for the MICA missiles. The instructions include a detailed paint guide for the Humbrol, GSI Creos line (divided into Mr. Color and Aqueous Hobby Color), Life Color, Testors/Model Master, Revell, Vallejo and AK Interactive lines. For Humbrol, Model Master and Revell, guidance is provided for these manufacturers’ enamel and acrylic products.

Construction begins with the cockpit and its detailed four-part ejection seat, which includes raised relief for its seat straps. The main instrument panel features glass screens for which decals are provided, but since these markings are simply a series of green rectangles, some modelers may want to paint the screens instead. Likewise for the side instrument panels, as dry brushing may bring out their detail more effectively than the kit decals. The control yoke is mounted on the right-hand side panel, as is often seek on military aircraft featuring fly-by-wire systems. There is a separately mounted instrument panel hood.

The kit includes a separate part for the boxed-in wheel wells for the main landing gear, as well as a single part with a bar running through the fuselage connecting the two forward-fuselage-mounted canards immediately aft of the cockpit. The engine exhausts are well-detailed, and the rather large vertical tail assembly consists of four parts, two of them blade antennae.

The kit’s two-part wings require strakes to be cemented to the ventral surfaces near the wing tips, and the landing gear are richly detailed. The canopy can be depicted open or closed, and the 5-part canopy assembly includes a clear part situated behind the pilot that may represent armored glass. The final stages of fuselage construction entail the fixing of the refueling probe and a series of blade antennae.

Academy provides a rich complement of underwing stores, which thankfully come with discrete notations as to what each of them are (this unfortunately is not a universal practice among kit manufacturers). Included are four MICA air-to-air missiles, six GBU-12 Paveway laser-guided bombs, three 2,000-liter fuel tanks, three 1,250-liter fuel tanks, and two SCALP-EG cruise missiles. Separate warheads are provided for two different types of MICA missiles, with either electromagnetic and infra-red guidance systems.

NOTE: The kit includes what appears to be an electronic countermeasures pod of some sort. It can be clearly seen on the box art below the starboard intake of the Rafale as it lands on a carrier. The curious thing is that the instructions make no reference to it whatsoever.

Markings

The kit provides decals for four versions of the Rafale M, all of which are Aeronavale aircraft and painted in an overall scheme of Dark Gull Grey with Medium Grey nose cones. The first two aircraft are with Flotille 12F, the first unit to operate the Rafale M. The first, Grey 2, has what appears to be an image of a duck on its vertical tail, celebrating 1000 hours of flight. The second aircraft, Grey 6, does not have any particular distinguishing markings.

The third version is a machine of Flotille 11F, Grey 31. The fourth version is a machine of Flotille 17F, Grey 32. In general the Marine and number markings are all in low-visibility grey, and even the Aeronavale roundel is rather dark.
The decal sheet includes an abundance of stencils and markings for the various weapons provided. The kit includes schematics of both the airplane and its weapons to assist with decal placement.

Conclusion

This is a richly detailed kit of an advanced fly-by-wire naval fighter, representing an aircraft that embodies France’s return to the pantheon of the world’s premiere air powers. Highly recommended.

 

References

• Fighter by Jim Winchester, Copyright 2004 Parragon Publishing; Bath, United Kingdom.
• www.defensemagazine.com
• www.flightglobal.com
• www.seaforces.org