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Rafale is a 4.5 generation aircraft manufactured and designed by Dassault in France. Whereas, the F-16 is by far the most efficient and well-tested 4th generation multi-mission fighter jet in the industry. The United States began producing it in 1973. It is designed by General Dynamics Corporation in the United States.
And over 4600 pieces of this F-16 fighter have already been constructed, with 3000 aircraft continuing in service today. It is now in use throughout 25 countries in the world. It has a top speed of 2400 km/h and serviceability of 12000 hrs.
In recent years, the US has sold its F-16 to Pakistan. Due to this, it has become a concern for India. Therefore, let us compare these two aircraft from different perspectives.
Sizing
If we see the sizing of these aircraft’s Rafale jet has a height of 5.34 m and a length of 15.27 m. The wingspan of this aircraft is 10.9 m. The width of 10.8 m. Whereas the height of an f-16 fighter is 5.09 m, the length of the same is 15 m as well as the wingspan of 9.44 m.
Given load taking, the capacity of these aircrafts f-16 has a load taking capacity of 21,272 kgs and the Rafale has a load taking capacity of 24,500 kgs.
If we see here, the Rafale jet is quite bigger than the f-16 from a sizing perspective. And if we see at the load taking capacity rafale has a higher load taking capacity. And this is better from this particular perspective.
Now, we must go to other perspectives and have a look at them.
Specifications
Let us understand some basic specifications of both aircraft. The F-16 fighter jet is a single-engine single crew operated aircraft that is powered by an engine that produces 29000 lbs of thrust. With the help of these engines, the aircraft can achieve a top speed of Mach 2. It has a range of 4216 km. The combat radius of this aircraft is 547 km. Speaking about the climb performance, f-16 has a climb rate of 820 ft/sec with a service ceiling of 50,000 ft.
Whereas, a rafale when first came to the market in 2001. 201 rafales were built. It is a twin-engine aircraft that is operated by one crew person. It has a maximum take-off weight of 54000 lb. The engines of this aircraft can produce and push the aircraft with a thrust of 34,000 lbs. Due to this, the top speed of this aircraft becomes Mach 1.8. Having a range of 3,701 km and a combat radius of 1851 km. Speaking about rafale’s climb performance it has a climb rate of 1000 ft/sec. Rafale has a service ceiling of 52,000 ft height.
Maneuverability
Now, the design of the F-16 fighter was initially done to dogfight and have high agility thus this aircraft was unstable. Which was then controlled and was stabilized by using its flight control system. Therefore, if in any condition if the flight control fails the aircraft becomes unstable until the failsafe is enabled and can get crashed. These aircraft have a thrust to weight ratio of 1.11 and the airframe of this aircraft is designed to hold the force up to 9g.
However, In the Rafale jet, it can also withstand 9g forces at a high angle of attack maneuvering. The aircraft is equipped with a canard that an f-16 fighter does not have. And have a delta wing which helps it fly easily in an agile manner. And the benefit of the canard is that it also helps in lift generation along with its wings. Therefore, it can take off and land on short distances. The thrust to weight ratio of the Rafale jet is 1.31, which is 0.2 greater than f-16.
From the above data as reference, we can see that the rafale dominated in this region having a high thrust to weight ratio, and other specifications.
Radar and Avionics
The radar-equipped F-16 fighter is APG-83. Which can target about 20 objects at a distance of 85 miles from the aircraft. It has a good warfare system including automatic ground collision avoidance.
Whereas, the rafale is equipped with SPECTRA technology that when combined with radio technology can detect smaller objects coming towards it from 90 miles. Moreover, it can detect up to 40 objects which is double that off-16.
Firepower
The f-16 fighter has 9 missile and weapon location points on which the missiles and warfare can be equipped. The fighter includes an Aim 9 Sidewinder, magic 2, aim 7, aim 20 and sky flash. It also has air to air beyond visual range missiles such as aim 9x, aim 132 and python 4. Moreover, in the f-16 fighter other equipment like air to ground and the anti-ship missiles can also be equipped. It is always armed with a 20mm rotary cannon.
Speaking about the Rafale it has 14 firepower location points which can carry weight up to 9.5 tons. The aircraft is equipped with air to air, nuclear, air to land and anti-ship missiles and bombs. It also has a meteor missile which is a beyond visual range missile. The Rafale has a 30mm cannon with a twin-pod firing from both sides of the aircraft. It can fire up to 2500 rounds in a minute.
Conclusion
To sum up, Rafale has a higher thrust to weight ratio and a higher service ceiling. Speaking about its maneuverability it has a better instantaneous turn rate value due to which it can turn very faster. In electronic equipment and avionics, both aircraft are equipped with highly advanced digital avionics, jammers and decoys. If we compare the payload capacity of both aircraft. Rafale can carry a higher payload than f-16. Moreover, both can carry nuclear warheads when needed.
The region where Rafale lacks is the range of it which is quite less than that off-16. Whereas, its canard helps it to fly in a low altitude and slow regime.
Overall, we see that the Rafale is a 4.5 generation aircraft whereas the f-16 is a 4th generation aircraft. And looking at the specification in the article we can say that rafale is a better fighter jet than the f-16 fighter.
