France Details Rafale F5 Upgrade With New Radar, 20% More Thrust and ASN4G Nuclear Missile

The French Direction générale de l'armement (DGA) on 10 September 2026 published a communiqué setting out the content of the F5 standard, the mid-life upgrade of the Rafale, days after the French Ministry of Armed Forces disclosed at its weekly press briefing that the first upstream development contracts for the standard had been notified over the summer to Dassault Aviation, Thales, Safran Aircraft Engines and MBDA.

According to the DGA, the F5 standard is built around the RBE2-XG radar, an evolution of the in-service RBE2 active electronically scanned array. The agency describes a strong increase in power and detection range, better identification of very low radar-cross-section targets, more computing power for the integration of artificial intelligence and increased cyber resilience, all within the same physical footprint as the current RBE2 and designed for the requirements of 2035 and beyond. The aircraft also receives a new inter-vehicle data link (IVDL) developed by Thales, which the DGA describes as stealthy, jam-resistant and high-throughput, a fully digital self-protection suite with substantially improved detection and jamming, and a new-generation inertial unit.

The M88-2 engine evolves into the M88 T-REX, with maximum thrust increased by 20 percent, from 7.5 to 9 tonnes, on the basis of DGA upstream studies conducted with Safran Aircraft Engines and ONERA. The standard also integrates the ASN4G missile, which renews the airborne component of the French nuclear deterrent currently carried by the ASMP-A. The DGA sets two goals for the standard: first-entry capability into hostile theaters, and collaborative combat.

The risk-reduction contracts notified over the summer, reported by Opex360 on 4 September, cover the engine, the radar, the self-protection suite, the inertial unit and collaborative-combat connectivity. Under the updated 2024-2030 military programming law, 47 Rafale F5 are to be delivered to the French Air and Space Force, specifically to its Strategic Air Forces, by 2035. At its half-year results presentation in July 2026, Dassault Aviation said it was still running the risk-reduction study notified by the ministry in 2023 and preparing the F5 contract, with entry into service targeted between 2033 and 2035.

The F5 standard advances as the sixth-generation fighter program France shared with Germany and Spain loses its original shape. According to The War Zone and Euronews, the Future Combat Air System and its New Generation Fighter collapsed in their original form in June 2026 after Dassault Aviation and Airbus failed to agree on workshare and authority, and after France and Germany failed to reconcile their military requirements. Airbus Defence and Space's chief executive has said the German side is exploring participation in the British-Italian-Japanese Global Combat Air Programme. France is separately preparing a successor effort, with a sixth-generation demonstrator that could fly in the early 2030s.

The F5 standard will be applied to a fleet that now spans nine countries. GlobalMilitary.net's 2026 inventory snapshot records 146 Rafale in French service, 105 Rafale B and C with the air force and 41 Rafale M with the French Navy, with a further 73 on order (61 B/C and 12 M). Among export operators with aircraft in service, India, Egypt and Qatar each field 36, followed by Greece with 24, Croatia with 12 and Indonesia with 3. The largest outstanding order is 80 aircraft for the United Arab Emirates, none yet delivered; Serbia is in the same position with 12 on order, while India awaits 26 more for the Indian Navy, Egypt 19 and Indonesia 39. Across all operators the site records 293 Rafale in service and 249 on order in nine countries, drawn from the same inventory data that feed its ranking of countries by military power. These are the site's snapshot of active airframes and outstanding orders, not official French government figures.

The full F5 development contract, the "lancement en réalisation", is expected by the end of 2026. The stealthy uncrewed combat air vehicle associated with the standard, derived from the nEUROn demonstrator, received a first contract, also notified to Dassault Aviation, in 2024.